RoaNL
by Ticklesforyou
Summary: This is a tale of adventure, revenge, lolicon and tickling in the world of Monster Girls. Cormiander, Hero of the Order, embarks on a journey through the Mamono Lord's territory to acquire power enough to defeat a certain someone and meets a lot of different mamono along the way. Rated M for HEAVY adult content (unsurprisingly; it IS the Monster Girl Encyclopedia, after all).
1. Prologue

****Prologue****

It began on a peaceful day, which was a rare treat for me. I was in an inn, kneeling with the tip of my sword stuck into the floor in front of me. My head drooped over the sword, and my hands clasped the hilt as I offered up prayers to the Chief God.

I soon became aware of another presence in my room. I sprang to my feet and whirled around. There I saw a beautiful, radiant girl with blonde hair. The child wore only sandals and a green sleeveless dress which stopped just above her knees. Her most striking features, however, were the large white wings on her back and the glowing yellow halo above her head.

She raised a hand and said, "Be at peace, brave Hero of the Order. I have been sent by the Chief Deity to reward you for your loyal service in these troubling times. Tell me what you desire, so long as it is within my power and not a sin to give it to you."

It was not her appearance but rather her words that convinced me of her divinity. Had she been corrupted by mamono mana, she would have "rewarded" me according to her instincts, not my requests. This was a genuine, untainted angel of the Chief God offering to grant me one request.

I smiled, lowered my sword and honestly replied, "Thanks, but I already have what I wanted."

* * *

When I was 12, some Holy Knights from the Order of the Chief God found me on the street. They sensed potential in me and offered me food, drink, protection, a place to sleep and more if I was willing to join their ranks and be trained to fight the current Demon Lord, commonly known as the Mamono Lord. Seeing an opportunity to get what I wanted-the power to fight back-I gratefully accepted.

It has been 13 years since then, and the power and influence of the Mamono Lord has spread throughout the world, warping and twisting more than half of it into demon realms. What lands remain under mankind's control are quickly defecting, embracing the Mamono Lord and her monster girl utopia and abandoning the Order and its ideals. At the same time, though, the Order of the Chief God has finally gained the magical technology needed to begin successful counter offensives against encroaching demon realms.

My story begins at the turn of the tide.

* * *

**Author: This is a dark story of vengeance, adventure, sex, lolicon and tickle fetish in the world of the Monster Girl Encyclopedia. Definitely not for everyone, but I've poured pretty much every ounce of Writer's Potential I have into this, so with any luck, it should be entertaining to the people it's marketed too. Hell, it might even be entertaining to some people it's _not_ marketed to, so if I've aroused your curiosity, feel free to ignore this disclaimer and give it a read anyway.**

**Also, for the record, this story is going to have a "Monster of the Week" vibe to it, with most chapters being dedicated to a member of a different species. However, this is not a series of unrelated one-shots, so skipping chapters to get to your favorite monster girl is highly unadvisable.**

**Constructive f****eedback (or generic positive feedback) would be greatly appreciated if anyone has any to offer.**


	2. Chapter 1: Orcs

**Chapter 1: Orcs**

__The day I met the chieftain, we were all eager for a fight. They say that orcs are stupid, and maybe we are. Because we were stupid, we waited at our home for men. They didn't come because there weren't any near our home anymore, but we waited anyway for a long time. By the time we got smart and decided to go looking, our mother had given us a lot of sisters. Because we were stupid, there were a lot of us by the time we got smart. I don't really know how many; I didn't have enough fingers and toes to count. But it was a lot.__

__I was the oldest, the strongest, and the smartest. It was my idea to leave home, and I was the one who found where the men were hiding. I was going to attack them at night, but we kept falling asleep. I guess that was another stupid idea. Before I figured that out though, we found the chieftain. Actually, he found us, and we were too stupid to know it…__

* * *

Three days after I received my divine visitor, I stood before a platoon of Holy Knights numbering almost 50, the local protectors of this minor village. Dressed in full Hero's garb—goldish armor with the crest of Teratalia, and a great sword sheathed on my back—I delivered the following speech: "Loyal soldiers of humanity, the time of our retaliation has begun. Teratalia is proceeding with a major offensive against the Demon Realm known as the Animal Country, and all soldiers throughout the land have been ordered to create distractions and chaos wherever they can to confuse the monster girls, so they won't know where to send help.

"My scouts have reported that a large tribe of orcs—about 200—has been massing in the Grigors and is most likely planning to raid this village. Our primary objective during this campaign is simple: before that tribe invades and paves the way for the rest of their kind, we will find it and eliminate it.

"Any among you that are worried, take heart! The orcs may outnumber us, but they are slow and stupid. Furthermore, I am a Hero: I could probably take on the entire tribe by myself, though I'd rather not. In any case, with me at the front, this platoon will be able to crush these orcs with ease.

"For those among you that think this hardly a grand mission, know this: these orcs are not our only target today but rather our first. For the sake of this village and the surrounding region, the orcs must be wiped out now, before they turn your women into monster girls and your men into sex slaves. Once we have dealt with them, though, we will not stop; we will continue to seek out and kill every monster girl we see until nightfall. So ready your swords and grab your arrows! We move out in thirty minutes."

After the knights gave a rousing cheer, I moved off to make sure everything in my room was secure before we left. However, a voice from behind me stopped me in my tracks. "Quite the inspiring performance. I think they may have thought you actually believe in the cause."

I hesitated for a moment before turning around to face Lieutenant Salia Riters. Ever since I'd arrived in this town, the lieutenant had said as little as possible, expressing her displeasure with me only via her constant glaring. I was pretty sure I knew why, but sensing that she was finally ready to talk, I decided to ask anyway. "Is there something you wish to say, Lieutenant Riters?"

The woman marched over to me, her worn, silvery armor glinting dully in the sunlight. When her fierce eyes were a meter away from mine, she spoke softly but firmly. "Yes, sir. I don't pretend to be wiser than the gods, but I haven't forgotten that incident on the training grounds ten years ago either. I know what you are, and no divine blessing will change that."

Her words were more or less what I had anticipated, but I found myself becoming much angrier than I thought I would be. I managed to maintain my composure, though, and unclipped an item from my belt—a potion in a small vial. Dangling it in front of me, I responded, "If you remember what happened, I'm sure you can guess what this is, right? A mix of Rage and Purify. I drink one every morning when I wake up and every time I fight to make sure what happened back then never happens again. No one else has ever voluntarily made that kind of effort—the kind needed to maintain their humanity after they've experienced the addicting, liberating sensation of a transformed body."

Sticking the vial back into my belt, I added, "I was chosen over you not for my skill with a blade or my magical proficiency, but rather because my will is stronger than yours will ever be. Don't like it? Then you can try to prove me wrong by turning yourself human again after you've been monsterized."  
My speech left Lieutenant Riters stunned silent with an expression of slack-jawed indignance frozen on her face. Without waiting for a response and with no small amount of satisfaction, I turned my back on her and said, "You have your orders," before marching off.

* * *

Several hours later, the knights and I, riding horseback through the woods, came to a halt. Around us in all directions were trees, fallen leaves, shrubbery and of course, the road we'd traveled on. However, directly ahead of us, a different image of a steep, rocky landscape with little plant-life hazily shimmered before us like a mirage. However, it was __not__ a mirage. It was a gate.

In my world, gates were nothing new, per se. Technically, there had always been a few connecting our world to others, such as the fairy kingdom, and the divinities have always been capable of opening and closing gates between our world and heaven. However, 25 years ago, the nature of the gates changed. The warping of this world into Demon Realms caused dozens of permanent gates to appear, connecting distant and sometimes otherworldly locations to each other, and they continued appearing ever since then. Also, though the truth of this was uncertain, there were many who claimed that the Gods could no longer open gates connecting our world to the heavens, which is why any Angels and Valkyries which entered our world now did so via "The Gate of Heaven:" a permanent gate under the Order's protection.

"All soldiers, hear me. Once we are on the other side of the gate, I will draw out the Orcs. They will be confused and in heat, so they will forgo tactics and charge us suicidally. Be on guard, though, if any other monster girls are close by, they may also attack." Turning around to face the troops, I unclipped the vial from my belt and held it up. "Now, drink your Rage and Purify potions. I will not allow any man to pass beyond this point unless he has braced his spirit against corruption." The knights all pulled potions out of their equipment packs, and despite many grumbled complaints, we all drank them together, as though we were taking communion.

Reclipping the vial to my belt, I called out, "Now, dismount your horses! Where we are going, they will only be a hindrance." The men did so, and after gathering into marching formation, we passed through the gate.

* * *

__The first time I sensed the chieftain's energy, it made me dizzy. It was as though one moment, everything was normal, and the next, the air was filled with the most delicious scent imaginable. My sisters and I wanted the man we were smelling. We didn't care if he was tall or handsome or strong or even if he was nice; we just craved a taste of his penis, whoever he might be.__

__And so, we ran after that scent. We ran without thinking and fell into a trap. It was the stupidest thing we'd ever done.__

* * *

"****MAMONO PHERAMONE!****"

I stood alone in the widest clearing available on the rugged mountainside, my sword held up before me. The red gemstone in its pommel glowed as I activated one of the spells I'd prepared and stored within it. All around me, the knights used the terrain to their advantage to conceal themselves and waited for further instructions. The plan was simple; I would lure in the enemy, the knights would surround them, and then we would wipe them out while they were trapped and unable to escape.

Of course, this was all dependent on the orc tribe being the only nearby monster girls. If any other creatures—say, a dragon or a tribe of harpies—happened to be in the area, they too would be affected by my spell and come charging out here, and that could utterly ruin my plans. Still, I was not too concerned; our scouts had been very thorough while searching the area.

So we waited, and we did not have to do so for very long. Because with a whooping cry, dozens of orcs began to appear over a nearby rise, charging for all they were worth like a pack of wild dogs. They were a rather distasteful sight to behold, slightly chubby with pink skin and black spots. In place of human ears, a pair of pig ears bounced and flopped about with each step they took, as did their breasts which, though others may have enjoyed it, I regarded as excessively and unattractively large. Punctuating the beefiness of these pigs were the crude, bulky armor they wore and the massive clubs they carried. In terms of attractiveness, they were sub-par with their only notably cute characteristic being the curly pink tails protruding from their rears. But in terms of combat strength, I must admit they appeared intimidating, and for the briefest of moments, their headlong charge shook my resolve.

As they drew near, I took note of one whose movements were less clumsy, more assured. She was slightly taller than the others, a tad bit thinner, and carried the largest club. Her most distinguishing feature was an X-shaped patch of black skin surrounding her right eye, giving off the impression of a very pirate-like eyepatch. I had no way of proving it, but I strongly suspected this one was the leader. Having selected my target, I released my luring spell—it was unnecessary at this point—and started slowly backing up toward the edge of the ambush circle. Concealing my movements from the other knights, I loosened the armor around my left arm and, when the leader entered the ambush circle, I unleashed my second spell. "CHAIN BIND!"

* * *

__He was right in front of me, all dressed up like a can of food waiting to be pried open. I thought for sure I'd found my husband at last, but suddenly he yelled something and I fell. I didn't know why at first, but after a few moments of trying to get up, I realized I'd been wrapped up in chains and tied to the ground. Most of my sisters didn't notice, and continued to run right past me. Then I heard a voice yell, "___**_BARRIER!_**___" After that, everything was chaos. Yelling and crashing sounds filled the air, but I couldn't see anything but the green sky above me. I was so confused by everything else, I didn't even think about how weird it was for the sky to be green.__

__Suddenly, a man appeared before me in golden armor emblazoned with the crest of a phoenix and carrying a longsword with a glowing red jewel attached to the center of the hilt. He pointed the sword directly at me and called out "__

_**_AMPLIFY!_**___" before speaking in a voice so loud everyone could hear it. "YOU ARE THE LEADER OF THIS TRIBE, YES? I CHALLENGE YOU TO OC'CLEROC—A DUEL TO TAKE YOUR PLACE AS CHIEFTAIN!"__

* * *

Calm filled the mountainside as quickly as the battle had. Around me, orcs stood warily, their clubs still half-raised. Beyond them, trapped outside the barrier I'd erected, the knights looked on, stunned speechless. Finally, a voice broke the silence. "Traitor! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" It was, unsurprisingly Lieutenant Riters. She pounded a fist against my barrier and yelled, "This wasn't the plan! What then?! Have you finally decided to show your true colors and go over to their side?!"

"HARDLY," I said, and then grimaced as my own voice pounded against my eardrums. "****RELEASE AMPLIFY!****" Shaking my head to clear out the ringing, I yelled back at Riters. "You should learn more about the monsters you fight. Orcs will always follow the orders of a male chieftain, even an order to kill themselves. I can end this fight quickly with no casualties on our side, and then we can create more chaos nearby. That is our mission after all: to create as much of a diversion in this area as we can."

The lieutenant's shoulders drooped a bit, and her clenched fist shook. "That… may be so. But you should have told us—"

"That I was going to challenge the orc's leader? Heh! After that little speech you gave me earlier, I knew you would brand me a traitor without hearing me out if I even mentioned challenging the chieftain for leadership of the tribe. Complain as much as you desire, but the Order will give me nothing but praise if I defeat these orcs without losing a single knight in the process."

My argument was flawless and left Riters seething in silence. Quiet once again returned to the battlefield. The orcs were all staring at me and the chieftain and shuffling about, uncertain what they were supposed to do now that I had thrown down the gauntlet... metaphorically (I dared not actually remove my gauntlet in front of the knights). I turned my gaze back down to the chieftain who stared at me with wide eyes that could have signified awe or merely shock.

I stood there for about thirty seconds before the pig-eared girl realized I was waiting for a reply. "Oh… I, uh, right, a challenge. Um, I guess I have to?" Her voice was surprisingly soft and meek considering her size. I almost reevaluated my assessment of her attractiveness, but then she rallied herself and said in a much bolder tone, "Right, yeah, I'll fight you. You know the rules, right? No weapons, no magic, and if I win, you become my sex slave." I suppose her manner of speech was rather impressive for an orc, but it still sounded crude and barbaric to my ears, negating all semblance of cuteness.

"Yes, I know the rules. First, we need to confirm the challenge by our names to make it binding. Then, you must select a proctor who will determine when we begin and when victory has been achieved. Finally, we fight bare-handed until one of us concedes, dies, or until the proctor declares that one of us has won, correct?" Lowering my sword and striking a pose which, I hoped, was very intimidating, I declared, "My name is Cormiander, and by my name I challenge you to Oc'cleroc. What say you?"

The orc grinned up and me and responded, "My human name was Marianne, but my orc mother named me Kal'lra and by my names I will make you mine! Sava! Get over here! You will be the Scrim'ja for this fight, got it?"

Another orc, one of the shorter, stockier ones nodded and stepped forward. "Al'ight, you 'eard 'er! Ever'one in a circle! We gun watch an Oc'cleroc!" I grimaced under my helmet. Now __there__ was a thick orkish accent. The orc, Sava, turned to me while the rest of the pigs milled about. "You gun have to let the chief up an' gimme yo' sword. Also, yo' helmet, but ya can keep th' rest o' yo' arma'."

I nodded and raised my sword once more. "DEACTIVATE CHAIN BIND!" The chains covering Kal'lra glowed yellow and dissolved. The orc rose to full height, and I received my first detailed view of her, two heads taller than me and arms bulging with muscle, slightly chubby with huge breasts that nearly rendered her face invisible to me from this close. Yes, for some other man, the view in front of my face might be paradise, but it all seemed like overkill to me.

Simultaneously, as if we'd planned it that way, Kal'lra and I turned to Sava and handed our weapons to her. I then pulled off my helmet, revealing my blonde hair and fair complexion. It may be vain of me to phrase it as such, but the orc standing next to me seemed to share my opinion, as she immediately whistled and said, "Gutsy __and__ handsome. You really are my type, you know? Yeah, no way am I letting you get away from me now."

I forced my sneer to shift into a cocky grin. "__If__ you win. Mark my words, though, __when__ I win, this mountainside will be covered in blood. And just so you know, I never tell a lie." I had hoped my words would scare her a bit, but they appeared to stoke her fighting spirit instead as she grinned more broadly and eyed me more lewdly.

"A'ight," Sava spoke up. "Now, you go o'er there aways, an' Chief, you go th' otha ways, a'ight?" We separated and moved to the starting positions Sava gestured us to. We stood approximately twenty feet apart from each other awaiting the signal to begin. After several moments, Sava lifted her arm and yelled "WAAAAAHHHHGGG!"

* * *

__My sisters all started yelling battle cries as I ran forward toward the little man, Cormiander. My plan was to pin him down real fast, tear off his armor, and have sex with him right here and now. But before I could grab him, he disappeared. Then I felt someone kick me from behind, just enough to make me stumble a bit. I turned around to see him bouncing around on his toes, a mean smile on his face.__

__He was fast. Not as strong as me, but very fast, and he was playing with me. Every time I tried to grab him, he would slip away, hit me a few times (though it didn't hurt much) and wait for me to charge again. I wanted to grab him so badly, but I couldn't even touch him. Then I got an idea. A pretty smart idea, actually. I charged at him, but stopped and turned at the same time he started to move. I couldn't do it if I tried to follow his movements, but I knew by now the moment he would try to dodge, so if I turned the right way, I could nab him. It worked too; I got him! I pulled him into a backwards hug. His arms and legs were flailing around cutely and all my sisters whooped and hollered at me.__

__I took a moment to show him off, pinning him against my body, but while I was wasting time, he surprised me. I felt his hand on my vagina, stroking and fondling it. Now don't laugh—I mean, I knew he was aggressive, but I didn't know he was aggressive like __

that__! It was so unexpected and nice that I got distracted and lost my balance. Next thing I knew, he tripped me up and I fell backward onto the ground. My grip on him loosened a bit and as the air rushed out of me, so did he. Before I could do anything else, I felt a knee dig into my chest, a hand grip my neck and a deadly presence above me as my view of the sky was blocked by two pieces of gold hanging over my eyes. They were his armor-covered fingers, poised to strike my eyes out in an instant if I tried to fight back.__

__Then, right there on the ground, I finally understood. He __

let__me catch him. He had planned this whole fight from the beginning—no before that, he knew what would happen before we ever saw each other. This was all a trap, and I ran into it like an idiot. I turned my eyes a bit and gazed up at the shining face of this man—this god!—and my desire for him changed. I didn't want to make him mine anymore: I was not worthy enough for that. I wanted him to make me his—to use me as he will and love me for my service.__

__"I concede defeat. By my name Kal'lra, you are my master now, Chieftain Cormiander. OOOGAAARAAAAHHHH!"__

* * *

The orcs quieted down at the signal from their former chieftain. I stood up, and Kal'lra moved into a kneeling position bowing her head before me. "Th' Oc'cleroc is ova!" Sava yelled. "We got us a new Chief!" And then she and all the other orcs kneeled and bowed their heads. Seeing their pig-ears from this angle was, I must admit, a little bit cute and certainly felt empowering, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from proceeding to the next phase.

Taking back my sword from Sava, I put my finger on the still glowing gemstone and said, "****RELEASE BARRIER!****"

Instantly the green field around me and the orcs faded away along with the glow from my sword, and the knights tentatively stepped forward, except for Lieutenant Riters, who nearly charged me down. "That was… that was… so… stupid and selfish… and what exactly did you do at the end there?!"

I couldn't completely hide my embarrassed grimace—I was hoping no one had noticed me fondling the pig during our fight. Regaining my composure as well as I could, I countered, "Look, the plan worked, didn't it? Watch." Turning back to Kal'lra, I asked, "Whom do you serve?"

"You, Chieftain Cormiander."

"Would you do anything I ask of you?"

"Of course, Chief."

"Even if I asked you to die?"

This time I sensed hesitation, but the orc nonetheless responded, "If killing me will make you happy, then please do it, Chief."

Turning and gesturing in all directions, I asked the entire assemblage of orcs, "What about you? Would you die for me?"

A chorus of "Yes, Chief," and "Of course, Chief," and "I'd die fa you, Chief," rang out from all directions.

I turned a smug look back on the lieutenant. "You see? We can kill them at our leisure or order them to kill themselves. Well? Which do you prefer?"

I couldn't see Riters' face beneath the helmet, but she stared at me for several more moments before turning away and moving to stand in front of the still-bowing Kal'lra. She unsheathed her sword and raised it high above the orc's prostrate neck. "I have waited a long time for this."

"So have I," I added as the sword began its descent.

__Shhhhnnnk!__

There was the flash of a sword swing, the sound of metal cutting through bone, and a head fell to the ground.

A __helmeted__ head.  
__  
Lieutenant Salia Riters'__ head.

Kal'lra perked up in confusion just in time to see me get drenched in the blood gushing out of the gaping hole in the corpse's neck before it tumbled to the ground. I doubt she noticed how much of that blood covered her—she was far too surprised.

But I didn't have time to wait for her and the other orcs to figure out what was happening, so I spoke. "This is my first command: kill these men without mercy, or else they will kill us."

A cry of anguish rose up from the soldiers.

* * *

__It was the worst thing I'd ever seen or done. The men didn't attack us—they attacked the chieftain. They wanted to kill him more than they did us. We couldn't let them, of course, so we fought back, and no one fought back harder than he did. He was a god of death—slicing down all in his way and also killing any men we tried to capture. He did not let us show mercy. And when it was over, I fell down and asked myself just what kind of man had I accepted as my husband?__

__I was seriously considering breaking my vow: even a monster girl would divorce an evil man if they accidently married one. But then, when the fighting ended, the chieftain called out to us.__

__"Hear me! I know how terrible this must seem and it pains me that it was necessary. But these soldiers were far too dangerous to try and capture alive! If we had tried to show mercy, many more of you would have died, and I did not want that.__

__"If you choose to follow me after this, beware! I am now an enemy of the Order, and they will come for me again in the future. In other words, we will have to fight, and kill, more soldiers. But I will do what I must to keep you alive!__

__"Look around! These men came here to kill you! If they had, they would have gone on to kill many more monster girls! Even though your kind have done nothing but love humans, the Order still wants you all dead just because the Chief God wills it! And they're getting better at killing! For a time, humanity was no match for the spread of the demon realms, but that time is ending. If something is not done, the ongoing war between the Order and the Mamono will become much, much bloodier very soon, but you can help me prevent that!__

__"I have a vision of the future. I envision a world where the Order no longer exists. I envision a world where monster girls will not have to fear for their lives and their husband's lives. And I will fight for that world.__

__"You may think me deceitful, and rightfully so. But as I told Kal'lra, I never lie. I told my lieutenant that we could kill you easily if I won the Oc'cleroc, but I never said I __would __kill you. I told Kal'lra that the mountainside would be stained with blood after the Oc'cleroc, but I never said __whose__blood. In all the time you have known me, I have never once lied. So know that what I say now is true: if you follow me, I will protect you; if you prove your value to me, I will make love to you; if you follow me, you will see me eliminate the Order and bring peace to this world. So decide now: am I still your chieftain, or do you think me too evil?"__

__My breath caught in my throat as I mulled over his words. The sight of him standing there, beckoning us to follow him burned into my mind. And for the first time, I did something I already __knew __was stupid. I knelt down again and said to him. "You are my chieftain, and I believe you are a good man." One by one, my sisters knelt and said the same.__

__Finally, the chieftain smiled and said, "Then come, a new chapter of our lives is beginning. From now on you will call me Chieftain Corman, and we will put an end to the Order. But first, there are a great many things we must do. To start, the village you have been stalking of late now lies defenseless. We will go there and take everything we can of value: horses and carts, food and money, men, women and children. This time, we will kill no one. We will take them prisoner, and in time, they will bolster our numbers."__

__Then he put his hand on my cheek, and I shuddered at the contact. "And remember: those who please me most will be the ones to taste my semen."__

__Any further speech he had prepared was drowned out by an enthusiastic yell, and my sisters turned and raced for the portal, too stupid to see they were being used. And as for me? I understood that now, but I also craved him now, this glorious, dangerous and incredibly __smart __man. I desired him far too much to care how he used me. And also, I was a little curious to see what else he might do.__

* * *

The barbarity and stupidity of the orcs worked to my advantage. In spite of the bloodbath they had witnessed, they were still eager to please, at least for the time being. I knew, of course, that their subservience was conditional. If I displayed too much evil or neglected my duties as a husband for too long, there would be an uprising. Nonetheless, it felt so good to finally be free of my disguise that I didn't care about such things. Indeed, the crudeness of the orcs' speech and their manner of carefully bludgeoning the townsfolk unconscious almost seemed charming to me as I approached my hotel room in the village. Their attitude toward me had changed drastically: whenever they saw me, they would bend over, both to emphasize their breasts and de-emphasize their height, and they would gaze at me with not only lust but also awe and apparent bashfulness. Perhaps, I thought, I could develop a taste for them under the right circumstances. But pleasure would have to wait—there was much to do and little time to do it. Right now, the Order was amidst a major operation, but it was only a matter of time before news of my treachery reached it.

I opened the door to my room and was immediately assaulted by my dog, a Shetland Sheepdog. Smiling the first genuine smile I had since I left this morning, I patted the dog down, and hushed her. "Yes, I'm back, and I promise I won't leave you behind this time, Reggie." Moving away from her, I went over to my desk where a certain encyclopedia lay open, showing an entry all about orcs. I closed the book and picked it up, carrying it over to a trunk on the other side of the room.

Opening the trunk, I smiled a truly vicious smile down at its occupant. Chained up below me was the same angel that had appeared several days ago. She stared up at me pleadingly, but couldn't say anything due to the gagging enchantment I'd placed on her. "Bad news," I said. "My plan worked, so it looks like you and me will be taking a long trip beyond the Order's reach." Chuckling malevolently, I placed the book inside the trunk and removed the armor from my right arm, revealing the dark, arcane symbols tattooed onto it. "SENSITIZE!" Both the symbols on my arm and the angel's body glowed momentarily, but otherwise, it did not appear to have any effect. I'd done this several times to the angel already, each time without offering an explanation. And I didn't offer one this time either, instead closing the trunk and rolling it out of the room with the dog following me.

Outside, the orcs had already succeeded in rounding up the villagers and were loading them onto various carts or raiding homes for food and valuables. I was especially pleased to see them loading the potions and other supplies I'd asked them to grab from the Order's warehouse: I would be needing as many Rage and Purify potions as we could carry for the journey to come. Spotting Kal'lra nearby, I walked over to her. "You have done well, my first. I will most certainly reward you for your loyalty."

"Does that mean we can have sex tonight, master?"

I tripped and fell onto the trunk. I knew, of course, that monsters were sex-hungry, but to be asked so bluntly and yet so politely felt very bizarre. "No, my dear," I responded carefully, as I righted myself. "We need to use all our time today, tomorrow and for several days after that getting far away from here. I am, or was, one of the greatest Heroes they had, and for the crime I have committed against them, they will not easily let me escape. As things currently stand, a Valkyrie could fly here from the Gate of Heaven within just a few days. We must be long gone by then. But don't worry, as soon as we are safe, I will pleasure you as no one else ever could. And remember, I never lie."

* * *

When I was 12, some Holy Knights from the Order of the Chief God found me on the street. They sensed potential in me and offered me food, drink, protection, a place to sleep and more if I was willing to join their ranks and be trained to fight the current Demon Lord, commonly known as the Mamono Lord or Overlord. Seeing an opportunity to get what I wanted-the power to fight back-I gratefully accepted.

But I never swore my allegiance to them.

When I was 8, my father shoved a book into my hands entitled __The Monster Girl Encyclopedia I__ and urged me to run away from my home as fast as I could. From that book, I learned the truth of the world—a world cursed by the not-so-eternal Chief God to be one where humans and monsters would fight to the death. I swore then that I would never trust the Order, and over the next four years, I swore time and time again that someday, I would acquire the power I needed to fight back. Now, at long last, I had that power, and I was ready to enact my plan.


	3. Chapter 2: Ratatoskr

**Rise of a New Lord**

**Chapter 2: Ratatoskr**

__The day I met my darling, I was running information from one battlefront to another. The Animal Country was in chaos, and though the Mamono races didn't normally care for bloody fighting, the Order wasn't giving us much choice in the matter. We Ratatoskrs put all payments on hold and delivered messages to and fro, warning couples near the battlelines, informing the Dark Army of enemy movements, and carrying requests for supplies or reinforcements.__

__In the midst of all this, I ran into a pair of orcs meandering about aimlessly. I tried telling them what was going on and that their help was needed, but much to my surprise they grabbed me and lifted me off the ground. "Chieftain Corman needs ta see ya," they said, and with no further explanation, they ran off with me.__

* * *

When I was 20, I fought on a campaign in the desert region of Saharad. There I found some ruins which, I believe, dated back to the second age. Among those ruins, I discovered the power I had long sought—the power which would make my plan possible. Unfortunately, I was only able to collect a bit of it before I had to leave due to reassignment, but even so, it was enough. All I needed after that was an opportunity, so I bided my time, waiting for the right moment to make my move.

* * *

I sat in a tent the orcs had erected for me, petting my dog, Regina, with one hand and rereading a page from my book—not the __Monster Girl Encyclopedia I__ my father had given me as a child but the __Monster Girl Encyclopedia, Complete and Final Edition__ I had acquired during my time as a Hero. A timid voice reached me from outside the tent flap. "Chief? Can I… can I talk to you?"

Resisting the urge to roll my eyes and tell her to leave, I instead called out, "Yes, Kal'lra, you may enter."

The tall, scantily armored and well-endowed orc with the black x-shaped patch of skin around her right eye, ran inside eagerly, and sat down seiza-style to my right. The dog, seeing another person in the room, happily bounded over between us, hoping to get dual attention. She succeeded, as the orc gladly started petting the dog with both hands while I shifted the book around so I could pet the dog with my right hand. After a moment cooing over the Sheltie, Kal'lra looked up and without any preamble at all asked, "Master, can we have sex now? I have pleased you, haven't I? So can we do it?" She clasped her hands together and bounced on her knees, causing her boobs to jiggle a bit right under my nose.

I knew she was trying to tempt me, and she wasn't entirely failing—in the two days since I'd taken control of this tribe, the orcs' clumsy attempts to appeal to me were starting to succeed, though I still felt that they were too chubby and their breasts were too large. Even so, I put on a pained expression and shook my head. "Unfortunately, no. I promised I would when we're out of danger—and I never lie—but we are not remotely safe yet. This land is being invaded by the Order even as we speak, and they will soon begin searching for us." __Especially,__ I added silently, __because I have a captive angel I haven't told you about locked up in a trunk. By now, the Chief God will be starting to wonder why she hasn't returned yet.__

Kal'lra was visibly crestfallen. Placing her hands back on the dog, as if seeking solace in her fur, Kal'lra complained, "But master, if we are still in danger, why did we stop at all? The sooner we leave, the sooner we can consummate our marriage, yes?"

"Ahh!" I said, finally comprehending her confusion. "Well, we stopped to get information. You see, the best way to escape from the Order would be to travel through a gate to a different land. But the problem with that is that we don't know which gate leads where; if we're not careful, we could jump right back into the Order's territory, and that would be bad. Furthermore, there are certain places I need to go to, so it would be best to travel through gates that help us get there faster." Here, I turned my book toward Kal'lra, showing her a picture of a chipmunk-like beastman. "I sent out about half the tribe to find one of these, a Ratatoskr. Do you know why?"

Kal'lra eyes widened and she nodded. "I do now. Ratatoskrs are very smart. They know everything about everywhere they go and everyone they meet. They could tell us which gates we need to use, right?"

Impressive. I hadn't expected her to figure it out on her own. Perhaps I was wrong to dismiss the MGE's claim that orcs are "sly." Perhaps these orcs were not stupid so much as uneducated. I would have to exercise more caution around them in the future. For now, I merely nodded my head and replied, "As for myself, I'm learning all that I can about Ratatoskrs so I know best how to deal with one. If at all possible, I would like to recruit one permanently so we will be able to learn everything we need to in whatever land we go to. Ack!"

The end of my explanation was punctuated by a slight shriek as my arm was yanked over to the orc's bosom. She hugged my arm and gazed up at me with sparkling eyes. "You are soooo smart! I wish I were smart enough to think like that."

"Y-yes, well." Now, this was awkward. She may have stopped asking me bluntly, but the way she was gripping me now made clear that she would not be easily refused, even if she did want to please me. Deciding to amp up the charm, I put down my book and touched her cheek with my left hand. That alone was enough to make her close her eyes and shiver with delight. "Don't worry, I will not make you wait any longer than necessary. And I promise you, when we have sex, it will be like nothing you've ever experienced… __if__ we continue to do things my way. So please, be patient just a little while longer."

The pig-girl trembled with bitter desire, but after a moment opened her eyes and bobbed her head obediently. "Alright, Chief, I can wait a bit longer."

Right at that moment, the tent flaps flew open, and two orcs carrying an angry Ratatoskr charged in.

* * *

__My first impression? Married. That much was obvious despite the stench of virginity clinging to him. He was leaning out of a chair stroking a very pirate-like orc's cheek with one hand while his other arm was firmly squeezed into her boobs. Even if he wasn't, his face didn't look especially charming at the moment, looking toward me and the big idiots holding me up with an awkward, open-mouthed grin and a pair of reading glasses slipping off his face. It felt like I had walked into something juicy, and it was rather frustrating that I couldn't have watched the scene more stealthily, almost as frustrating as being dragged there in the first place.__

__Still, it was, admittedly, rather amusing to see him yank himself free of the orc's grip and try to compose himself while yelling, "Put her down, put her down now," to the excited duo demanding praise for a job well done.__

__My second impression? Cunning. He proceeded to stroke the egos of the two orcs and promised each of them great rewards… but not yet. And they ate it all up too, as if they thought the mere promise of future sex was reward in and of itself. The way he dismissed them was masterful, but he had only begun to entertain me with his intellect.__

* * *

I knew this was what I asked for, but honestly I was rather surprised to see results so soon. Orcs are rather slow compared to Ratatoskrs; those two must have had the element of surprise on their side to have captured one without consent, which I hadn't anticipated they'd do.

After they left, I stood and moved around my desk. "My apologies," I said with a slight bow. "I thought they would get your permission before bringing you here."

The girl's brown, black and white-striped fur bristled a bit and her tail rose. She glared at me a moment longer, clenched fists trembling by her side, but eventually, she released her grip and let out a sigh. "Meh, its fine," she said, placing one hand on her hip and flicking the hair on the side of her head with the other. "Trust me, I know how overly enthusiastic orcs can be. Whatcha in the market for?"

Her motions stopped me for a moment and I took note of her features. Small, childish body, a cute pair of white paws where her feet should be, a large fluffy tail and two small, fluffy, triangular ears poking up from her hair. She was clothed in sleeveless brown shirt and a frilly green skirt with leaf decorations on it.

I gritted my teeth and clasped the vial at my belt.

"Ah, so you are willing to hear me out? Wonderful, wonderful," I said, downing the Rage/Purify concoction immediately afterwards. "I didn't anticipate getting the information we need so soon. This calls for celebration! Kal'lra, I've changed my mind! We __will__ have sex." The orc squealed with excitement and bounded over, reaching out to embrace me, but I quickly sidestepped and added, "__After__ dinner. The last thing I need during sex is to be focused on how hungry I am. Could you go hunt down something while I deal with Ms. …"

"Spring, my name is Spring," the Ratatoskr said.

"While I deal with Ms. Spring."

The pig-girl, now standing at her full height, two heads taller than me, lifted her hands in front of her and danced on her toes for a moment, a wide smile stretched across her face. "Yes, yes, I will and get dinner right now, Chief."

She ran for the entrance full speed and I ran after her calling out, "Bring back venison if you can get it, and TAKE THE REST OF THE TRIBE WITH YOU!" I was yelling as loudly as I could by the end, and I could only hope she heard the whole message.

Walking back inside the tent, I heard a tittering sound and turned to see the Ratatoskr, Spring, hands on her hips clucking her tongue and shaking her head at me. "You aren't from around here are you? There aren't any wild deer for miles around. Those poor wives of yours will be gone for hours, maybe days."

"Oh, is that right?" I said, listening to the tribe stampede past the tent and off into the distance, apparently following Kal'lra's orders. "Dear me, I hope they secured the… animals… before they left; things could get a bit upsetting if they didn't. Do you mind if I go check?"

Spring waved me ahead, and I left the tent. I mentally chastised myself: I had almost used the word "slaves." Not that that necessarily would've been a deal-breaker in monster society, but it would depend on how she interpreted it. Best not to risk having her question my moral standing just yet.

I ran hastily over to a penned-off area where a large number of people sat chained together. They seemed surprised to see me, and some called out expecting rescue. "…Ah, yes, now that I think about it, they don't yet know that I lead this tribe," I mumbled to myself. What then? Should I introduce myself now and make a speech? …No, that could be a bad idea considering there was an information broker nearby; if I made a slip of some sort and she followed me out of curiosity and heard me, the entire world would learn things I was not yet ready for it to know. So instead, I simply and silently double-checked to make sure they were incapable of escaping and left them with their looks of shock, fear and disgust.

I really would have to have some kind of talk with them soon, but I had a much higher priority first. So I returned to the tent and rolled up my left sleeve. "So," Spring began, "now are you ready to-"

"CHAIN BIND!"

The furry creature didn't have any further warning before the spell activated, causing mystical chains to shoot out of my desk and wrap around her wrists and ankles, pulling her down onto it spread eagle. The sudden motion startled poor Regina, who had curled up under the desk and ran over to shield me from the perceived threat, barking at the desk as though it were some vicious beast. The brown girl was also understandably stunned—so much so that she didn't even make a peep. She just looked on in abject horror as I approached, my mask of kindness degenerating and twisting into a glare.

"Actually, I was aware there are no deer nearby. What better way to incite the whole tribe to give us some privacy for a good long while?"

My words finally seemed to jolt a reaction out of her. "What the… How the… What is this? What are you doing?!" She tugged at the chains and twisted this way and that. Her tail, now stuck between her spread legs, waved around insanely for a few moments, but the blush on her face and the way she slowed it down told me her tail was rubbing parts of her body that she didn't want to rub, at least not in a serious situation in front of the man who just imprisoned her. Calming down slightly as a result, she looked at me with a bemused expression. "I thought you just wanted information. Don't tell me you were captivated by my beauty and want to add me to your harem."

I couldn't help laughing out loud at that. "Captivated? No. But I do want you in my harem, yes." Spring's eyes widened and I heard a sharp intake of breath. "I need someone like you, an information broker who can get me whatever I need. That's why I'm going to make you mine."

"Y-you can't! Y-you're already m-married!" the Ratatoskr wailed, renewing her struggle. "I-I mean, I-I'm not that kind of girl, you know? Plus, you're really not my type."

"Irrelevant details," I countered, rolling down my left sleeve. "Polygamous marriages may be rare among monster girls, but there is certainly precedent for it. Monster girls in love with the same man will accept a polygamous marriage even if they're not naturally polygamous species. As for me not being your type, you will grow to adore me, just as every other monster girl learns to adore the man they marry or vice versa regardless of their original preferences. That's how your mamono instincts work, after all."

"B-but… B-but…"

"However," I added, cutting off any further whimpering, "if you wish to resist me, that is perfectly fine. It's more fun for me that way. Because then I get to torture you and make you beg me for sex. I will break you, force you to marry me, and break you again for the fun of it."

The whiny sounds leaking from her clogged throat were music to my ears as she lay staring in horrified anticipation. The page concerning Ratatoskrs in the MGE came back into my mind. Everything was going proceeding precisely how the information had implied: Ratatoskrs were initially cunning and confident, but flustered and cowardly in the face of a man who loves them, even if the Ratatoskrs manipulated them into feeling that way. In the end, the simple method of taming a Ratatoskr was simply to have sex. Once they had tasted the semen of a man, they would become utterly devoted to him.

Indeed, I could realistically end this quickly by simply raping her here and now. If I did so, her mamono lust would overwhelm her and bind her to me. But I didn't want to. I needed a test subject for my methods before proceeding to more stubborn victims. Plus, it was more fun this way.

"Please…" The begging pulled me out of my reverie and I saw that the child-like girl on the table was in tears already. "Please don't hurt me. I know you're not a bad man—those orcs wouldn't have married you if you were."

I closed my eyes and chuckled. "A bad man…" I murmured. "I __am__ a bad man—a bad, cruel, vengeful man. But I'm not going to hurt you; that is not my desire. No. I am going to torture you via another means—something completely unlike anything you've ever experienced. You will hate it, and then you will love it, and when I'm finished, you will crave it and me along with it."

With those words, I rolled up the sleeve on my right arm, revealing a different set of markings than the ones on the left. "SENSITIZE!" The markings on my right arm glowed for a moment along with the Ratatoskr's body, but they disappeared after a moment without leaving any visible effect behind.

Spring stared at me, scared, confused and perhaps having regained a bit of her curiosity. I stepped up to the desk and bent over her, smiling almost kindly as I lifted my hands and stroked her bare arms. "AH!" The squeak was not one of pain, but surprise as the girl fought to keep a smile off her lips and started yanking on her chains once again. I continued to slide my fingers up and down, up and down her arms while she continued to spasm beneath me. Slowly, words began to leak out of her mouth. "What… gk… What the… What is this?"

"Spring is a nice name, but not very common among humans. You were born a monster, yes? Tell me, have you ever heard of… tickling?" I accented the last word by spider-wiggling my fingers in her armpits.

The effect was immediate.

* * *

__I'd never felt anything like it before. It didn't hurt per se, and it wasn't entirely unpleasant. In fact, it made me feel all bubbly and fluttery, like I was filled with butterflies, and without meaning to, I started laughing and couldn't stop. But along with all that mirth came a desire—a need—to make it stop. I tried so desperately to pull my arms down, but they wouldn't budge, and I realized that I was so incredibly vulnerable and helpless. It was actually really arousing, but that didn't make the need go away.__

__And it got worse too. The sensation slowly got more intense and while it still didn't hurt, it was officially unpleasant. I started begging for mercy before I was even aware of it, and yet all the while my tail, which refused to stay still, started brushing against my legs and vaginal region. This was extremely stimulating, and it made me very wet. But my soft, fluffy tail did more than that; it also provided the same sensation as that horrible man's fingers all over my lower body, albeit with a different texture to it. The feeling had rapidly become unbearable, and the most embarrassing part when I look back is that it took less than a minute for him to make me feel this way.__

* * *

The Ratatoskr chittered with giggles and her tail flailed wildly as she tried with all her might to escape the magic chains. "KEEHEHEHEHEHE, NO, STOP THAT, KEEHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Her adorable suffering caught the attention of my dick, which at last started to get hard in spite of the Rage potion I drank, which filled me with anger and induced a mind-numbing heartlessness.

The purpose of Rage was to prevent soldiers from lusting after monsters by overwhelming them with hate instead. It wouldn't be accurate to say that the potion negated lust altogether, or even a little bit, but for those with a strong will, it did provide the incentive necessary to restrain that carnal desire. This, and only this, was most likely the reason I hadn't yet fallen for the orcs' increasing cuteness, the reason I was able to maintain my rationality and put safety and my plans for the future before sex, and it was also the only reason I currently had the fortitude not to rip off my pants and rape the laughing girl beneath me right this second.

__Hate. Hate her. Break her first. Then you can love her.__ This was the mantra flowing through my head, rebuking my growing arousal, as I slowly stopped the tickling.

As the beastgirl's laughter died down a bit, her panted begging floated softly up to me. Smiling cruelly and once again slowly stroking her arms, I leaned over her and hung my face above hers. "Shocking, yes? I can't imagine how it must feel to be ticklish for the very first time. It is the first time for you, isn't it? As far as I know, ticklishness is a very rare quality outside the human, elvish and dwarfish races. Not while I'm around, though, because I found a spell in a long derelict structure that creates and enhances the bodies nerves however I please. I could have used it to increase your receptiveness to pain or pleasure, but instead I chose to make you ticklish. I can make it worse, too, and I can do it on any part of the body that strikes my fancy. And I must say, this sleeveless shirt of yours really draws attention to these lovely armpits of yours. Perhaps I'll make the effect permanent here, hmm?"

"Please… please, no more. You… are a very bad man. I don't like you."

I smirked at her and looked down at her green skirt, which was now flipped up to reveal a matching pair of green panties. "Oh, you don't, huh? Because this—" Here I poked a wet spot on her panties with one finger, earning a startled, sensual squeak from her. "—appears to think otherwise. I know it's torture, but is it really as bad as you say? Then again, perhaps, you simply don't like being tickled and stimulated at the same time? Let's try this." I lifted the sleeve of my left arm again and gestured toward the now-limp tail. "CHAIN BIND!" Again the arcane markings on my left arm glowed, and again a chain came out of the desk, this time binding down the tail.

"NOOOhoho!" Spring wailed as she struggled visibly to rub herself with her tail some more. I was no idiot. I knew she was subconsciously trying to pleasure herself throughout the ordeal. And I hated it too. It was too soon for that. I was so frustrated with myself for forgetting to bind the tail at the very beginning. But then again, seeing her suffering at getting only a small taste of the pleasure to come much later on was also satisfying in its own right. Perhaps I would employ this strategy on purpose in the future.

Deciding that she'd had enough of a break, I pressed on, digging my fingers into the center of her exposed hollows.

* * *

__If I thought it was bad before, it was so much worse now. My pussy was throbbing, demanding more but instead of pleasuring my clit, that wicked beast was, in a very different sense, pleasuring my armpits. True to his claim, he demonstrated his ability to make it worse whenever he wanted using the "Sensitize" spell embroidered into his right arm. I never knew how much to expect and I soon discovered that no matter how bad it was now, he could still make it so much worse. Eventually I was laughing so hard, I couldn't beg no matter how much I wanted to and I was too exhausted to move even without the chains. I'd had enough. I didn't care anymore if he was a good man or a bad one, I just wanted release. If that meant having sex with this jerk, so be it. But I couldn't say that anymore. I just lay there and laughed and laughed and laughed until I started having trouble breathing.__

__And then finally, he stopped. The tingling throughout my body, filling my fur, made it hard to notice at first, but he had stopped and he let me catch my breath while he fetched a glass of water. "Drink," he said. "It'll make you feel better." He was right about that. Water had never tasted so good, and for a brief moment, I dared to think even semen couldn't taste better.__

__"Well now," he said as he pulled the glass away. "Those were some intense reactions for just ten minutes. What do you think? Shall I go on like this until my wives return? Or would you prefer if I… tone it back a bit?" He accented this last phrase my rubbing the palm of his hand over my wet panties, bumping my clit as he did so. If it weren't for constant tingling still rippling through my body, I might have cum right then. It was that intense. And oddly enough the slight ticklish sensation he'd instilled in my pussy made it even more so.__

__I'd had enough. I needed to cum, now. But… "You're married," I said through my moans. "I want it but… I don't want to marry a married man. And yet…" I was more confused and indecisive than I'd ever been in my life. I hated this man, but I needed release. I didn't want to marry him, but I craved his dick.__

__Finally, he nodded and said, "Then let me show you how I can pleasure you, hm? Perhaps it will help you make up your mind." With that, he started to remove my clothes.__

* * *

I noted with no small satisfaction that Spring had completely given up on resistance, as I first removed her skirt and lifted up her shirt to reveal the small nipples on her flat chest. My penis was completely erect by now, throbbing painfully inside my pants. But I still restrained myself, channeling the lust through the Rage potion's anger. __Torment her. Make her beg you for marriage. Then, only then, will you rape her.__ Repeating this mantra with my mind, I once again lifted my right arm, this time gesturing at her erect nipples. "SENSITIZE!" The mere word was enough to induce quiet begging from her, but this time I'd done more than simply enhance ticklishness.

Slowly I reached down and teased the tops of her nipples with my index fingers.

* * *

__My first impression? Ecstasy. It still tickled like hell, but not as much as it had on my armpits, and beside that was the overwhelmingly pleasurable sensation of being groped and teased. He twirled and wiggled and flicked his fingers over my nipples, making me laugh and moan at the same time. I still hated it, but that was changing because unlike before, this felt so __good!

__He cast that damn "Sensitize" spell again on my armpits and moved one hand to tickle there. That still tickled terribly but it too had a different feel to it than before, and although I still laughed and started begging again, I also moaned harder and my panties were soaked in precum.__

__He started alternating between the slightly more sensual nipples and the slightly more ticklish armpits again and again. It was maddening, but the more he did it, the less I hated it. I was still sexually frustrated, yes, but it was different than before. He was building me up towards a climax, and I could feel that it was going to be intense. More so than anything I'd felt before.__

__But just before I got there he stopped. I was so close I could taste it, but he didn't let me cum. And again I hated him. I was about to yell, to beg and plead for release, but he gently pressed a finger to my lips and said, "Shh, now, now, you mustn't come before I've touched your pussy." And with that he moved down to my thighs and began slowly sliding panties down my legs. The cold air fondled and tickled my now-exposed clit and I knew my climax would be so much greater than it would have been before.__

__That wretched, horrible man opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out a green feather. "This one, I think, matches your adorable clit perfectly." I felt blood rush into my cheeks, though whether from the compliment or the anticipation, even I couldn't tell. He slowly reached down, letting my desire and frustration build before opening my lips and touching tip of the feather to my vagina.__

__It was… paradise. I felt as though every nerve in my pussy was dancing and celebrating the feather's arrival. But they were also protesting. "We want a dick! We want a dick!" they screamed, and at last, I didn't want to refuse anymore. I looked up at that man, that evil, horrible, maddeningly wonderful man, and said, "Marry me. Please, fuck me."__

* * *

She looked up at me with a face that said she was thoroughly broken, mouth hanging open, tongue hanging out, and eyes seeming both dead and ablaze with passion at the same time. "Marry me," she said, "Please fuck me."

__No,__ the Rage potion whispered back. __It's not enough. Deny her again and again until she has no will of her own. Break her so thoroughly that she accepts her fate only to cum when you wish her to.__  
__  
But I do wish her to,__ my dick said in reply and like a dam breaking, I gave over control to my lust. Ripping off my pants and underwear, I pulled myself up onto the desk and leaned over the child-like girl. Her eyes filled with hope and desire she subconsciously tried to lift herself up, but the chains held her in place. I gazed at her a moment longer and then reached out my left hand. "DEACTIVATE CHAIN BIND!" The chains binding her turned into light and dissolved.

Instantly she and I jumped into each other so quickly that I don't really know which of us shoved my penis into her pussy. I also didn't notice her hymen breaking or the blood that resulted, and since I had dulled her pain receptiveness while casting "Sensitize" over and over, I do not believe she did either. All our attention was focused on one thing: squishing our members together to achieve climax. And what an explosive climax it was. I'd never felt anything like it before and I wanted more. I wanted more so badly that I reached into my desk and grabbed a new potion, something not sanctioned by the Order: Invigorate.

* * *

__Just once was glorious. I came harder than I ever knew possible and he did too, filling me up with delicious semen. But as quickly as it ended I wanted it to continue. And apparently, so did he. He drank something, probably Invigorate, and his spent penis perked up again inside me. "I can feel it! I can feel it in the deepest parts of my body!" Without saying anything in response, he started pumping again. As cruel as he had been before, now he was something else: an animal full of passion and lust.__

__I loved it, every second of it. Even when he started to lightly tickle my armpits while sliding his penis in and out of me, I still didn't struggle. I laughed and moaned, and while my mouth was wide open, he bent his head down and smashed his lips into mine. His sweet saliva poured into my mouth, and I felt as though he fed off my moaning laughter at the same time. When we came again, it was every bit as intense as the first time and we both collapsed onto the desk, trembling with exhilaration. I lay there for a moment, right hand hanging off the side, when I suddenly felt something lick it. I jumped at the slightly ticklish sensation and looked down to see the forgotten, neglected dog looking up at us with a face somewhere between confusion and… jealousy? I wasn't sure exactly, but it was so funny I couldn't help laughing. And then, to my surprise, he, my darling Corman, did too. It was a kind laugh without any malice at all as he beckoned the dog over and started petting her.__

__Half-naked, reading glasses falling off his face and leaning off a desk to pet a dog, the cruel abomination I'd seen just a few minutes ago was once again replaced with the cute, awkward man I met when I first arrived. And while he was still in that state, he turned to me and said the following words without a hint of insincerity:__

__"I'm on a quest to change this world. And when I'm done, the technology of the ancients will return. Did you know that in a different age there were devices that could send information to the distant corners of the world instantly? Can you imagine that? That's what I want. I envision a world where Ratatoskrs can access and relay information throughout the whole planet with ease. Will you help me create that world? Will you marry me and join my fight?"__

__He said it very suddenly and aroused my curiosity. A world where I could get information from anywhere and sell information to anyone instantly? It was insane, but also extremely appealing. Just like him.__

__Smiling, I leaned my head into his chest, wrapped my tail around him and said, "Of course. I already said I would… my darling Corman."__

* * *

Despite my expectations, the orcs returned later that day with a staggering amount of venison. How they found so much of it so fast, I will never know, but because of it, I barely managed to drink my Purify potion in time to hide my lack of virginity.

Purify had a very different purpose from Rage. The purpose of Purify was not to directly combat lust but rather to prevent the corruption of women into monster girls and men into incubi by cleaning out all the mamono mana they had absorbed. If I hadn't drank it when I did, the orcs would have sensed Spring's mana inside me, and they might very well have tried to dethrone me, or at least, have immediate sex with me. Of course, there was no way to hide the way Spring was fawning over me—wrapping her tail around me and trying to make me pet her at every turn—but as much as it irritated the orcs, I was able to convince them that she had fallen in love with me only because I had not yet consummated my marriage and, as such, she had assumed I was still up for grabs. And I did it without actually lying, of course.

Spring had become strikingly submissive, but she also retained her cunning. Seeing that I didn't want the orcs to know the truth about what happened, she happily played along with the story, saying such teasing things as, "I'm gonna steal him from you," "He's not yours yet; I can still make him mine," and "Well, I suppose I could share him, just a little, since he seems to want a lot of wives anyway." Inwardly I sighed in relief that I had so thoroughly dodged the arrow.

My constant arousal from the fluffy tail fluttering around me also made my night with Kal'lra much easier to enjoy, as my cock was already primed and alert when we entered the bed. It was… so much more awkward, though, dealing with a willing mate as opposed to the captive Spring. Kal'lra was eager for sex but also bashful in my presence, and this provided me with the sense that I both was and was not in control at the same time. As a result, I had a hard time figuring out how to proceed—should I speak forcefully, politely, gently, suavely…?—and it took a surprisingly long time just for us to compose ourselves enough to strip.

Even more difficult to mention, though, was my desire to tickle her. I'll be honest—in spite of my increasing degree of attraction for the orcs, they were still too chubby, too tall, and too busty for my liking. Of course I would need something to spice things up. I didn't tell her all that, mind you, but at the very least, I had to let her know she would be tickled.

I needn't have worried. She __was__ an orc and I __had__ conquered her. She would've killed herself at my command and orgasmed while she did so, so of course Kal'lra was happy to be chained up and tickle tortured. In fact, the idea seemed novel to her—like a new frontier waiting to be explored. Frankly… her optimism annoyed me, so when we finally started, I turned up her ticklishness a fair bit to dull her arousal for a time.

I focused my attack on her sides and stomach first, since her chubbiness drew my attention. In between bouts of jovial laughter, she frequently snorted, which was not at all cute but was rather amusing. I didn't want to make her suffer too much, though—I did need her happy, after all—so after a couple minutes I started to tickle-massage her oversized breasts. In the process, I discovered something very interesting: tickling the undersides of the boobs is fun. This may seem self-evident to lovers of big breasts, but to a person like me, it was like a revolutionary discovery. Who knew there was actually something attractive about these huge things? I made a mental note to self to chain her upside-down next time for better underboob access and then, now thoroughly aroused, I moved on to actual sex.

It… was not as memorable as my time with Spring. Yet, I cannot deny that if felt good. With Kal'lra released from her bondage, she wrapped her arms around me and mashed her lips into mine while I pounded myself into her. It felt… safe somehow, if only for a moment…

I didn't allow her to sleep with me that night, saying that I needed her to guard the prisoners because I didn't trust anyone else not to fall asleep on the job. (Not technically a lie; I really didn't trust the other orcs not to fall asleep.) In reality, though, I needed her out of the tent while I opened my trunk and fed the secret prisoner I was keeping within it. Even now, that we were officially married—no, __especially__ now—I dared not let the orcs know of my plans for her. Still, I couldn't just leave her in the trunk permanently either. If I was going to continue with my plan, I would need help from someone much more… difficult to persuade than Spring had been.

The next day, I was awoken by something soft in my arms. At first, I thought Regina had snuck into my mattress, and in fact, she had. But the dog wasn't the only one. At that moment, I was hugging Spring's tail, and the Ratatoskr in question lay beyond it, staring endearingly at my sleeping face. "You and the pig-girl had sex last night. So can you and I stop pretending we're not now? I want to feel your fingers wiggling all over me again. I want to taste your delicious juices again. Can we, my darling Corman, please?"

Her face leaned into mine and I almost consented. But with great effort, I pulled the vial of Rage and Purify out from where I'd stored it in my pillow and downed it quickly. Battling the lust with newfound anger, I gently pushed Spring away. "No, my little chipmunk. That's not how things work here. If you want sex, you must earn it. So now, I think it's about time you start telling me everything I need to know."

"Alright," she responded with a pouty face that twisted into a lustful, mischievous smile. "For starters, you probably need to know that I looked inside your trunk."

* * *

When I was 20, I discovered power in some ruins, but I only had time to collect three of the ancient spells. One was a spell which could bind even the gods, at least in theory. Another was a spell designed for torture which enhanced sensitivity however the user desired. And the third was a special spell which I tattooed to my chest. This one I couldn't use yet, but I would, someday, when I reached a certain place in Zipangu. Individually, they were not especially flashy or useful, but combined, I knew they would lay the groundwork. All I needed was the last piece of the puzzle: an opportunity to capture an angel. After that, I would seek out the first viable subordinates I could find and leave the Order. Five years later, the perfect opportunity finally arrived, and at long last my quest for vengeance began.


	4. Chapter 3: Gremlin

****Chapter 3: Gremlin****

__When I first met that genius, I was cornered by the Order. They had been battling against a tribe of werewolves not far from where I was tinkering, but I neither cared to get involved nor was scared enough to run. I was completely absorbed in my work, adding an experimental aphrodisiac I'd recently discovered the formula for to my throne. It wasn't until a hex whizzed past my ear that I realized I'd stayed too long.__

__The werewolves were in almost full retreat, and the Order pursued using speed-enhancement spells and long-ranged attacks. Arrows and enchantments flew all around me, and it was all I could do to hide beneath my currently inactive throne.__

__Fear. It was a new emotion for me. I'd never been scared for my life before, but in that moment, I honestly thought I would die. But then a loud, "WAAAAAHHHHHGGGG!" filled the air, and the sound of the battle changed. When I peaked out from my hiding place, I saw him leading an army of orcs into the Holy Knights and plowing them down almost single-handedly.__

* * *

When I was 16, I made a discovery. Many of the most mysterious and powerful items existed within the ruins of the most ancient times, during the reign of the original Chief God. Why exactly this was, I wasn't sure, but I had a theory. Perhaps, in the first ages, the Chief God underestimated humanity's potential. Humanity is a species that grows and adapts, after all. That's why the Chief God created the monsters to keep our population in check. If my theory was true, there was great power in the lost magics and technologies of the ancients —technology that rivalled the divine. If so, that would certainly explain why the Order forbade its followers from studying the ancient ruins. So from then on, I focused my studies and my quests on unravelling the secrets of these forgotten times, hoping that doing so would yield the secrets which would lead to my victory. In spite of that, I was still an Hero, not an archeologist or technician. To make sense of the cultures I was investigating, I would require the aid of a professional.

* * *

Spring the Ratatoskr was devious and inquisitive but, thankfully, also extremely obedient and eager to please. She readily agreed not to tell the orcs about the captive angel in my trunk without any bribery or threats required, a fact I found pleasantly surprising—I had anticipated more jealousy from her. She also quickly provided me all the information I required, specifically what the nearest safe gates were and the fastest routes to Zipangu and the Saharad.

Most importantly, when I asked her if she knew of any nearby ruins where I could find a gremlin, she replied, again with no apparent jealousy, "Weeelll… There is Tinkler. She lives not too far from here in some ruins to the north. But that area is dangerous; the Order is attacking nearby, or was last I heard. She may have already died or left."

My response was immediate. I needed a gremlin as quickly as I could find one; if there was any chance of recruiting this "Tinkler" before we had to leave Animal Country, I needed to do it now. So I rushed out of my tent and sounded the alarm. I told Sava to take the supplies, the prisoners and most of the tribe and follow Spring's instructions to reach and pass through a certain gate. I then ordered the former chieftain Kal'lra to select the strongest orcs we had and arm them for battle. I also prepared myself for war. I donned my old Hero armor and my sword and slapped my helmet on my head. Then I joined up with Kal'lra and her selected warriors and we set off, leaving behind our rapidly packing tribemates.

The journey was surprisingly quick, all things considered. According to the __Monster Girl Encyclopedia__, orcs were supposedly slow, but that was only compared to Heroes, Holy Knights and other monster girls. Compared to an average human, their speed was incredible. All the same, I quickly regretted not bringing Spring with us or at least asking her to draw us a map: that was an oversight on my part. Nonetheless, such things proved unnecessary when we heard the sounds of nearby battle echoing off the forest trees.

Acting on a gloomy gut feeling, we followed those sounds and, as anticipated, there they were—knights garbed in the golden armor of Teratalia, a tribe of werewolves with rusty red fur, and a cluster of bizarre, crumbling structures covered in overgrowth, the remnants of a lost civilization.

"Ah, man, that ain't good," Kal'lra said next to me. She lifted a small telescope up to her left eye which, because of the X-shaped patch of black skin around her right eye, made her look even more like a pirate than normal. "Oh, that… that's nasty. We are… we are going to stop them, right?"

I shrugged. "Would you rather let all the werewolves die or all the men die? Because if we show ourselves here, we will not be able to leave any human survivors. I cannot allow the Order to start looking for us any sooner than they already will."

Kal'lra and the other orcs all shuddered at the thought of killing more men. For monster girls, killing men was taboo—an absolute last resort to protect their husbands' lives. To be sure, if I ordered it, my orcs would show no mercy, but each time I did, I lost some of their love and respect.

Slowly opening her mouth again, Kal'lra asked, "Do you think the gremlin and the werewolves will get out of there alright?"

After a moment, I nodded. "Werewolves are fast, and they know this terrain better than those knights. …And the gremlin is probably long gone by now," I replied and then added in a mutter, "It's a shame, though, those wolves would make—"

"She's still down there."

It took me a moment to register the orc's words. "Wait, what?"

"The gremlin," Kal'lra elaborated, "she's right there. I don't think she's even noticed anything yet."

"Give me that thing," I snapped, yanking the telescope from her hands. Peering through it, I added, "Where, where is she?"

"Uh, by the, the… big thing with lots of windows."

It didn't take long to deduce what she meant: the ruins of an old building whose walls seemed to be made completely from windows. And right next to it, just now becoming aware of her predicament, was Tinkler the gremlin, hastily ducking behind… some unidentifiable contraption. Probably something she was building. But that was beside the point; she was there, which meant we weren't too late… yet.

I lowered the telescope and bit my lip a bit. I looked back at the orcs and asked, "Would you do anything for me? Even kill?"

The orcs were silent for a long moment, but then, one of them spoke up. "If you say we have to, I believe in you." Slowly, muttered agreements rose from among the other orcs and a moment later, they were all kneeling before me.

I turned to Kal'lra, who smiled and nodded, and then I turned back to the battlefield and grabbed the greatsword on my back. "Alright, then. Everyone, kill the knights; leave none alive!"

* * *

A mere fifteen minutes later, it was over. The soldiers were all dead, or at least I hoped they were, though if any had escaped among the trees while I wasn't looking, it wouldn't have surprised me. The total count was: me, 73; Kal'lra, 4; the other orcs, 7, though individually none of them killed more than one. Our casualties included no dead orcs, but several of them were badly hurt, and I never knew how many of the retreating werewolves had died.

As I walked through the aftermath, the werewolves stared at me, open-mouthed and keeping their distance. __Understandable,__ I thought to myself. After all, they weren't my wives: their tolerance for killing was undoubtedly lower than the orcs'. Besides, I must have been a ghastly sight with my armor and sword drenched in blood.

It was a shame: I would have enjoyed trying to recruit them the same way I did the orcs. However, after this, I doubted they would marry me willingly even if I defeated the alpha in ritual combat. Plus werewolves were much rowdier than orcs, and the chances that I could keep the entire tribe under control was low if I married all of them myself. So, I ignored them and pressed on toward the shell-shocked gremlin, still cowering behind the… whatever-it-was.

Coming to a halt in front of her, I said, "I assume you're Tinkler? I'm glad to see you've survived; you and I have business to discuss. CHAIN BIND!"

* * *

__I lost consciousness soon after getting caught—I think one of the orcs clubbed me over the head or something. When next I woke up, I was in some kind of tent, chained to my own throne. There were two people with me in the tent. One was a Ratatoskr wearing a sleeveless brown shirt and a green skirt with a leaf pattern sewed into it. She had white footpaws, which was a rare trait among her kind, but aside from that she was every bit the stereotypical Ratatoskr. The man she was clinging to wore the bizarre fashion of the ancients—something the humans then had called a sweater and jeans—the shirt had a drawing on it that vaguely resembled a penis and the writing above and below it said, "Monster girl refueling station; it's not free, but it's the best quality." He had curly blonde hair and deep brown eyes. And his spirit energy—I recognized it from the battlefield. He was the same man in blood-soaked golden armor who had first saved me, then kidnapped me.__

__I next looked down at myself to see what had changed. My own appearance was mostly the same as any other gremlin's: small, childish body; green hair; fur-covered triangular ears sticking out to the sides. My skin was a lot darker than other gremlins, but that was only a tan from working under the sun rather than in some cave or dungeon. To set myself apart from others, I wore distinctive clothing—an unbuttoned white lab coat over a tiny yellow bikini with polka dots, bright green rubber gloves, and the see-through boots I'd invented, which allowed me to keep my small feet-topped with green fur-safe from heavy equipment while simultaneously showing them off to any potential husbands with a thing for feet. Right now, however, based on the chilly air passing over my soles, I suspected they'd taken my boots off. And as for the bikini,… yeah, that was gone too, leaving my nipples and pussy completely visible and highlighted due to the conspicuous tan line. As for my throne, it looked mostly unchanged: a hovering chair with 16 mechanical tentacles with various different applications attached to the ends. The only notable difference was the chains, which seemed to have sprouted out from it as if they were some kind of plant… or parasite. Whatever, it didn't matter. What mattered was that those chains held my arms over my head, tied to some of the currently stiff and inactive tentacles, and kept my legs spread in front of me, my feet lifted off the ground.__

__Just as I finished collecting data on the current situation, I heard a chuckle from the blonde-haired man. "Awake now? Excellent, let's get down to business. My name is Cormiander, but nowadays I am called Chieftain Corman. This little bundle of fur is my informant—the one who told me where to find you, Spring. And you, my dear, are going to enter my harem and invent fancy contraptions for me using the ancient sciences."__

__"Fancy contraptions?" I asked, slightly curious, but then I shook my head and said, "No, no, that doesn't make sense. You're married, aren't you? What are you, some kind of collector? And you—yeah you, you grinning rodent—you're okay with this?! I thought Ratatoskrs preferred monogamous marriages. And what about all those orcs? They can't be on board with this, right? There's barely enough of you to go around already!"__

__Even before I finished, the two of them started chuckling, and pretty soon they were laughing their heads off. "Oh, wow," the Ratatoskr said. "Was I like that when you had me tied up?"__

__"She's asking the same questions, but you were much more polite about it. Still, the situation definitely gives me déjà vu," Corman responded, still laughing violently.__

__"Hey, you giggling fools, answer me!" I spat out, getting more frustrated by the second. I mean, if they were planning to have sex with me, I didn't really mind that, but I'd much prefer to have them at my mercy while I experimented with various stimulation techniques. This whole setup felt backwards and unnatural to me.__

__The Ratatoskr answered first. "I stopped caring about how many rivals I have the moment I fell in love with my darling Corman. If he wants a gremlin, fine. I'll just make sure he loves me more than you."__

__"And as for the orcs," Corman said with a malicious grin, "I sent them out to hunt wild geese. With any luck, they'll be gone for a few days. By the time they return, you and I will already be married."__

__"Fat chance," I huffed. "I don't know how you got that little fluff-ball to marry into a polygamy, but I'm not some pushover like that. When I marry someone, it won't be someone I have to share; it'll be a specimen I can experiment on any time I wish for as long as I wish. I'll fill him up with five different aphrodisiacs and test out my dick-pumper and my ass-fucker and…"__

* * *

The gremlin's eyes glazed over as she fantasized, describing her many depraved inventions. A few of them sounded interesting, but most of them scared me, particularly the "ass-fucker": why in the world anyone would want something stuck up their butt was an unsolvable mystery for me. I strongly suspected that even if my plan worked, this girl would be problematic for a long time to come.

Even so, it didn't change the fact that I needed her, so I rolled up the sleeve of my right arm, revealing the arcane tattoos underneath. "SENSITIZE!" The tattoos glowed an eerie red as did the gremlin's body.

She ceased babbling pretty quickly, looking back and forth between me and her own body with suspicion. "I sympathize with your desire for control, but I'm afraid you are the specimen today." With those words, I turned to Spring and asked, "Are you ready to commence the experiment, my pet? Just as we discussed." The Ratatoskr flashed me a mischievous grin and brandished her tail.

* * *

__I've been electrocuted several times in my life. When that Ratatoskr's tail brushed against my left foot, the sensation I felt vividly reminded me of a shock running up my leg and passing through my body, but it produced some different reactions. Most notably, my face twisted into a smile and I started laughing loudly.__

__"BWAHAHAHAHA! WHAHAHAHAT? WAAAHAHAHAHAHA!"__

__My body, particularly my legs, jerked in response to the unfamiliar stimulation, but because of the chains, I couldn't move more than a few centimeters in any direction. I instinctively closed my eyes, trying to blot it out, but my efforts were completely useless. Somewhere in the depths of my mind, a name for this phenomenon slowly started to occur to me. What was it…?__

__"Fascinating," Corman suddenly said. "It would appear that she laughs like a madwoman when—ooh, no wait: like a mad scientist. Haha, you monster girls really do have appropriate-sounding laughs for each race, don't you?"__

__Ah, yes, I remembered. Tickling: that was the word. That spell he cast must have increased my sensitivity to tickling drastically. Of course, knowing that did nothing to help me overcome it. I mean, what could I do? Zap myself with an anti-ticklish-device? Maybe if I had a few months and free use of my hands, but in this state, all I could do was laugh.__

__It felt like an eternity till the nerdy warmonger told that starry-eyed Ratatoskr to stop. As I panted for breath, they both chuckled. "Well? Having fun?" Corman said, petting Spring behind the ears.__

__"Ooh, yes," she said in response, though by the look on her face, she was probably referring more to the petting than the tickling.__

__"Good, good, I think that's enough for a warm-up. Now let's proceed to phase one." I tried to keep my face blank, but I was now officially panicking.__

* * *

I couldn't keep the cruel smile from my face if I tried as I observed Tinkler's vain attempts to hide her nervousness. Whether she realized it or not, she was visibly biting her lip and her eyes kept going to Spring's tail. "First, we'll find out if different methods tickle more or less on the same sensitivity setting. Remember, this is for science and we value your input, so please let us know if you feel any change."

The gremlin immediately snorted. "Yeah, right: 'for science' my aaaAAAHAHAHAHAHASS!" Her sentence cut off as I scribbled my fingers over her right foot. It was a little small for my hands, but I managed to keep at least eight fingers in contact with her skin at all times. I tickled her for the same amount of time my accomplice had—exactly one minute—and then stopped.

"Hm, I didn't notice any difference in the laughter, though it did appear that this foot jerked differently than the other one. There was less side-to-side motion and more forward-backward yanking. What do you think?"

Spring clutched her shoulders and shivered a bit. "Sorry, I didn't notice; I was too busy admiring your skill. Just thinking about you doing that to me gives __me__ goosebumps."

I had to hide my face as I grimaced and rolled my eyes at her antics. Right now, I wanted her to be happy, but my Rage potion did not discriminate when I was annoyed. "Please, try to pay attention, Sena," I said, citing the name of a scientist's assistant from a popular science fiction series to try and sound more playful than I felt. "We must take accurate notes to make great discoveries. After all, what we learn here will be quite useful in refining our techniques in the future."

"In any case, on to the next item." Opening up a drawer in my desk, I pulled out a harpy feather and moved back over to the gremlin's foot. "Unless, of course, you have any input for us before we continue?"

The gremlin was already red-faced and panting. Her fully-on-display tits were now completely erect, but her face was fixed into a glare. "Fuck you," was her curt reply.

"Oh, I'm sure you'd like that," I mocked, "but for now…" I lowered the feather onto her sole and started flicking it around. This time the gremlin was prepared: she closed her mouth and held her breath while her foot danced around. It was frustrating not to hear laughter this time but also extremely amusing to see her small, flushed cheeks puffed up with the effort of holding it in.

After a few seconds of this, I sawed the feather between her toes and the laughter poured out of her like a bubble bursting. "Oh? Surprising. I thought I had sensitized all parts of her foot equally. Did she laugh simply because of the change of location, or did her toes become more ticklish than her soles?" I continued to pull the feather back and forth between each toe for a while, testing my hypotheses.

Finally, I threw the feather aside and said, "Nope, I can't tell. Let us put that on hold for now and proceed to the next experiment: analyzing different reactions on different body parts. Next up, the legs." Spring and I pulled up alongside one leg each. By now, Tinkler's vaginal region was pink and puffy and begging for attention. "Aroused, are we?" I taunted, flicking my feather briefly over her pussy. In response, she let out a yelp followed by a moan. "Too bad," I said, pulling away as quickly as I'd started, "that comes after you surrender, not before."

This time, I didn't wait for her to hurl insults: I nodded to Spring and we both started tickling a leg each. The green-eared beast girl immediately started bucking and squirming and laughing all over again. Her legs bounced back and forth as we explored them, wiggling our fingers over her shins, knees and thighs. "Oh my," I said, feeling the underside of her knees. "I think I like this spot; it feels similar to tickling an armpit."

"I think I prefer the thighs," Spring piped up over the gremlin's hysterics. "They're so soft and squishy." She emphasized this by placing both of her small hands on the girl's left thigh and squeezing rapidly, earning a fresher, louder laugh from Tinkler.

We kept that up for a minute and then stopped while I took notes. "Okay, so rather than pulling backwards, her legs bounce up-down and side-to-side when they're tickled. Now let's go up to the midriff. There's a ton of spots to tickle here; let's start at the hips."

"W-wait," a panting Tinkler interrupted. "A-aren't you (huff) skipping a spot (huff)?"  
I blinked and tilted my head to the side blank-faced… or at least that's the look I was aiming for. Of course, I knew she was trying to draw my lustful attention to her clit, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have an erection by now. Even so, I played dumb and responded, "Hmmm… no, I do not believe I am. Spring, begin."

With that, the tickling began again. Following the pattern of one minute for each, we did her entire upperbody. Tickling her hips and sides made her cute little ass dance for us. Tickling her belly made it swerve in all directions, and her navel was particularly fun, especially when Spring dipped the tip of her tail inside and let Tinkler's squirming swirl it around, allowing us to rest a bit. Her ribs were a bit too bony for my preference, but the way she swung her upper body from side to side trying to escape our probing fingers was quite the treat. And then we reached her armpits. I couldn't really see what I was doing this time because the sleeve of the open lab coat was in the way, but it certainly felt good under my fingers, and her vain efforts to pull down her arms were every bit as satisfying as they had been with Spring.

By the time we had finished the second phase of our "experiment," Tinkler was thoroughly exhausted, yet much to my surprise, she still had yet to beg. "You're a tough one, I must admit," I said, grudgingly impressed. "But now I think it's time to break you. Spring, we're moving into phase 3."

Spring clutched herself and shivered visibly again. "Ooh, this one scares me. I'm so glad I'm not you right now," she said to the gremlin.

I was pleased to see her eyes widen and jump back and forth between us when she heard this. She opened and closed her mouth several times before asking, "W-w-what are you gonna do?"

Grinning the meanest grin I had since we started, I leaned in close and replied, "The third experiment is to test the limits of my power. You see, I know that I can make you even more ticklish than I already have, but I don't know how much more. Is it possible to increase ticklishness infinitely, or is there some maximum—some upper limit—past which higher ticklishness is impossible? I don't know, but I want to find out. Shall we get started?"

Tinkler couldn't have looked more frozen if she was naked in an iceberg. She didn't move or say anything until I gestured toward her with my right hand and said, "SENSITIZE!"

"NO, WAIT, HOLD ON, LET'S TALK ABOUT THIS! We could make a deal, right?! You want me to make something for you?! I can make pretty much anything!"

The intensity of the sudden shouting burned my sensitive ears and left me reeling. "OW!" I yelled, falling to the ground and then punching it, leaving a dent in the dirt. "Okay, note to self: don't lean into the face of a desperate ticklee," I muttered as I stood up. Speaking more loudly, partly so I could hear myself, I responded, "Okay, now I'm starting to understand why some people like to gag their victims! You know, there was a chance I __might__ have had mercy on you, but now. I'm. MAD!"

By the end of my tirade, even Spring was cowering in silence. Not surprising really; I've seen what happens when people who drink Rage potions lose control of themselves, and the eyes, which literally flash red, could unnerve a dragon.

After a moment, Spring lightly pulled on my sleeve and said, "Corman?" That helped me pull back into myself a bit. I patted her on the head, and took up position between Tinkler's legs.

"Let's commence the experiment, Spring," I said, infusing as much lust into my words as I could to counteract the anger. The Ratatoskr hesitantly nodded and moved in front of the gremlin's feet. Tinkler didn't try to beg this time; she simply watched my hands with trembling lips.

* * *

__I'd never been yelled at so ferociously before. I still wanted to beg for mercy, but I couldn't move my mouth, so I sat and waited for the inevitable. It didn't come right away; Corman's hands hovered in front of my tummy for a while. I started to think he was intentionally building the suspense, but with the benefit of hindsight, I now realize he was waiting for the slightly disheveled Ratatoskr to start.__

__The sensation of that tail brushing my foot was… so much worse than it was the first time, especially since I wasn't paying attention to that girl at all. I started laughing again, this time so hard that I couldn't move anything but my lungs. I was frozen in place—a noisy, ticklish statue—and that didn't change when he add his own fingers to my belly and sides, squeezing and pinching and wiggling his fingers all over the place.__

__Through the haze of my tears, I could see his crotch pushing up the inside of his pants, and whenever I took gasping breaths, I could smell his arousal. He wanted me, and I tried—I tried so very hard—to take advantage of that. Whenever I could muster up any strength at all, I lifted my butt off my throne, thrusting my throbbing clit as far upwards as I could, trying to draw his attention to it. But for some reason, he wouldn't stop; any normal man would have given in to the temptation by now, but he didn't. Instead, the tattoos on his arm glowed again… and again… and again. Each time he cast that "Sensitize" spell, the tickling, which I constantly believed could not get worse, did. Eventually, I couldn't even breathe anymore and I drifted into silent laughter. If I wasn't a monster girl, I would've passed out from the intensity or the lack of oxygen long before this point.__

__Finally, that blasted, sadistic pervert gave the order to stop. He got up and went over to his desk. There he lifted a glass of water and brought it over to me. "Drink; you most certainly need it by now." He was right: the water was so good, I could have gulped down ten glasses. As it was, he didn't let me finish one because I drank too quickly and almost choked.__

__The Ratatoskr seemed to have recomposed herself and wrapped her tail around the man with an eager look on her face. "Weeellll? Are you ready to join us?"__

__I couldn't take anymore. But on the other hand, I could not and would never marry a man like this. So, despite the tingly protests from every nerve in my body, I shook my head and said, "I'll… never marry… an evil man… like you."__

__Much to my surprise the Ratatoskr squealed in delight. "Yes, yes, yes! I was hoping you'd say that!" She started tugging on her husband's sleeve while staring up at his face with twinkling eyes. "That means we can do it, right? I've been looking forward to this; this'll be so fun!"__

__That evil genius slowly turned to her and smiled down at her gently. "Yes, I know, I have too. But first… I'm sorry for yelling like that, I didn't mean to scare you."__

__The rodent blinked and reddened, as if surprised or even flustered by her husband's sudden mood swing from "hater" to "charmer." "Oh, no, it's all right," she said after a moment. "C'mon, forget about that! Take off your pants already!"__

__His pants? As I saw Spring start stripping him (which would have been funny or cute to watch under other circumstances), a desperate, hungry part of me dared to hope that he was about to stick that big, beefy meat-stick inside my slit. But those hopes were dashed the moment I saw him playfully lift up his wife, flip her upside-down and forcibly remove her skirt and panties while tickling her. It was only then I realized the true depth of this torture. The tickling was not the focus of his method—that was just for fun. The real theme of this torture was…__

* * *

"Who said you could pull off my pants for me, huh?" I said, giving Spring a few playful tickles while I had her upside-down. Nearby, Regina, my dog, who had been sleeping peacefully under the desk so far, suddenly took notice of our antics and came over to lick Spring's very vulnerable face and ears. "Yeah, get her Reggie," I said over the Ratatoskr's mad giggling.

"Keehee, no stop that! Keeheehee, go away Reggie!" Spring responded good-naturedly by lightly pushing the dog's nose away and then wrapping her arms around her neck and pulling her into a hug. It was a precious sight to me, and it made me forget my anger for a brief moment. But the Rage potion would not allow me to remain completely calm even now.

"All right, that's enough," I said, gently putting down Spring and leading Regina back under the desk. "CHAIN BIND!" I said, using my magic to make a small but sturdy chain linking the dog's collar to the underside of the desk. "Sorry about this," I said, roughing up her fur a bit, "but right now I need to finish my grown-up games, and I don't want you weaving around our legs during that."

Pulling away from a somewhat dejected dog, I turned back to my wife and captive just in time to catch a flying squirrel. Spring had sprung up at me, and as I held her under her armpits, she reached down and spread her lower lips with her fingers. "Come ooonnnn! Give it to me already!"

I smirked and started squeezing my hands, now firmly locked in her underarms, making her laugh a bit. "Naughty, naughty," I said, carrying her back over to the captive so that we were positioned between the gremlin's legs. "You know we need to be in the right spot for this, correct? __Now__ we can begin."

* * *

__Denial.__

__My hypothesis was confirmed when the Ratatoskr turned her head far enough to flash me a nasty "This one's all mine" grin and then started to wave her tail, which was now positioned perfectly to rub against my legs and pussy. My ticklishness had not gone down, but as the torture began anew, I discovered that although my pussy was also very ticklish now, it also felt so __

good!__I mean, I'd brushed myself a few times before, and it never felt like that on the first flick even if I had my machines do it at random. Even so, as I started laughing insanely again, I knew that the pulsing heat in my sweet spot couldn't overcome the ticklishness anymore. I wouldn't be able to cum just from this.__

__But they would. Those two happy idiots had the gall, right there while they were driving me nuts, to start having sex in front of me. The ex-Hero lowered the kid's open vagina onto his erect dick and started pumping. Their constant thrusting caused that nasty tail to start glitching out, flicking wildly in all kinds of weird ways. There wasn't even the slightest hint of predictability to her movements anymore which made it even worse for me because she couldn't balance my pleasure and tickling properly like that. Sometimes she focused a little too much on my vulva and almost made me cum, but then her tail would spend a whole minute on my hyper ticklish legs and leave me in throbbing denial. All the while, they just kept fucking each other and the squirrel-girl would occasionally taunt me by muttering, "So good!" or "Delicious!"__

__Yes, this was the real torture, the one that mad genius had been building up to this entire time. As much as I hated to admit it, his method of showing me what I could have and forcing me to want it was working. I mean, they just looked like they were getting so much pleasure out of this, and I wanted in on it so badly I'd have sliced off my hands and legs to get out of these chains and get a taste of that semen.__

__Before long, they both came, and as their juices dripped to the floor and Spring's tail temporarily froze, I dared to think they were done. But then Corman lifted his left hand and I realized he'd picked up a bottle of Invigorate while he was tying down that dog a moment ago. Within seconds they were back at it, and I was left in denial again. I laughed and moaned and moaned and laughed. My pussy juices were completely drenching the Ratatoskr's tail but she made no attempt to remove it.__

__They paused again and this time before drinking more Invigorate, the man looked at me, a happy Ratatoskr resting her head on his chest, and said, "Listen, I'm not giving up on this. I'm on a mission to change this world and I need your help to do it. I envision a world where the technology of the ancients has been resurrected. A world filled with contraptions like yours created by geniuses like you. And to achieve that goal, I will get your help or break your brain trying." With those brief, heartfelt, and admittedly somewhat inspiring and flattering words, he brought the potion back up to his lips, reviving his spent penis and starting the process up once more.__

__After a few more cycles, I couldn't take it anymore. I needed his dick right now, future consequences be damned. "ALRIGHT! GAAAHAHAHAHA! ENOUGH! WAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I GIVE UHUHUHUHUHUHUP!" They didn't stop right away—in fact I don't think they heard me until after they came again and paused their debauchery. "I give up. I'm done. I'll marry you. Please. Fuck me already," I said, panting heavily between short sentences.__

__Corman stroked the Ratatoskr's head and pretended to contemplate my words. "Hmm, what do you think, my little munchkin? Has she had enough or should we go a few more rounds for good measure?"__

__The panting chipmunk slowly shook her head and said, "I'm not sure I could go a few more rounds. Besides, we shouldn't tease her anymore. She deserves to be fucked… once." She again flashed me a cocky "He's mine," face before slowly slipping off of him and wobbling over to the chair behind the desk.__

__"All right, then," Corman said, lifting the Invigorate bottle to his lips once more. "I suppose I shouldn't be too cruel to my new wife."__

* * *

As I went in to have sex for the eighth time in a row, it occurred to me somewhere in the back of mind that I was lust-crazed and absorbing too much mamono mana. I should have stopped for a dose of Rage and Purify, but I didn't care enough to wait even a moment before proceeding, partly because I wanted to finish this quickly… and partly because I didn't.

I approached Tinkler and once again I stuck my massive member into a hole that should've been too small for it. The magic that allowed mamono to have sex regardless of their size or age truly was mind-boggling, but that thought only remained with me for a moment as I felt the thrill of the subtle discrepancies between the feel of the gremlin and the Ratatoskr. It was a tight fit, but not as tight or uncomfortable as Spring's. It teased the tip of my cock more, but didn't pull as well when I pumped. In the end, I couldn't say one was better than the other; they just felt different.

Beneath me, Tinkler gasped and bucked like a madwoman, her eyes alight with desire. "It... Ah, it still tickles! Please, it still tickles too much!"

"Oops!" I said, realizing that I was maintaining my balance by gripping a pair of legs that were more ticklish than, I suspect, any others had ever been. "DEACTIVATE SENSITIZE!" I didn't completely undo the magic, but rather all but the first layer of it. Even so, the drop in ticklishness was so great that Tinkler's eyes immediately glazed over as pleasure became the dominant stimulus enveloping her mind.

We both came mere moments later, and Tinkler's cry of, "SO TASTY!" was emphatic enough to convince me that she was officially addicted to me, whether she liked it or not. "More!" she shouted, yanking on her chains again, probably trying to jump up and grab me. "Give me more of your delicious nectar! I must analyze that flavor more thoroughly!" she yelled as if I were some rare delicacy or lab specimen... or both.

In my muddied state of mind, I almost gave in, but then Spring's tail wrapped around my waist and yanked me backwards, forcibly pulling my penis out of the underdeveloped girl's body. "Nu-uh," she said teasingly. "I only said I'd let you have him once. If you want more, you have to earn it. You did say that was the rule here, didn't you?"

Having my own words thrown at me finally brought me back to myself and I bent down to pick up my vial from where it had fallen onto the floor along with my pants, belt and underwear. I downed the vial, slowly collected myself and nodded my head. "Yes, yes, that is the rule. If you want sex, you work for it. For a genius of your level, I'm sure that shouldn't be too hard?"

Tinkler grumbled under her breath about how I had just fucked Spring seven times straight, but then said, "Fine, fine, what do want? Lasers? Chemicals? I'll make whatever I have to if…" she trailed off for a moment and then grinned maliciously. "…if you let __me__ put __you__ in the throne next time. I'll show you what this baby was designed to do and then __you__ will come begging __me__ for sex."

"Is that a challenge?" I said with a grin of my own. "Consider it accepted. DEACTIVATE CHAIN BIND!" All the magic chains in the tent, including the one keeping Regina under the desk immediately disappeared. As both the dog and the gremlin got up and stretched their legs, I began laying down the list of items I wanted done. "First and foremost, I want you to remodel this tent so that it's a closed environment; I don't want anyone outside to be able to see or hear what goes on inside, and ultimately I don't want anyone outside to be able to sense the mana of anyone inside."

Tinkler visibly baulked in the middle of putting her swimsuit back on. "You want __what?__ You do know how hard it is to hide the presence of mana right? Even if you can get me the stuff I need, it'll take a few months. It'll cost you… 24 straight hours on my throne."

"24 hours?!" Spring yelled, looking like she'd been one-up'ed.

"Make it 18 and you've got a deal. You'll get the other six sooner if you can at least cancel out all sound leakage within a week."

"You've got a deal!" the gremlin said, practically jumping into my face in her enthusiasm. "Alright, I'm going to need 200kg of iron 35kg of copper… You guys might want to write this down."

"Later," I said, motioning for some personal space. "But first, let me tell you about a few more services I'll require and will pay for… starting with your help dealing with this." I moved over to my trunk and opened it, showing the still silent angel inside. Having now listened through two of my tickle torture sessions, she was crying her eyes out, probably having deduced the sorts of things that lay in her future.

How the conversation would have proceeded from there would have been fascinating to watch, but just then, I heard a distinctive howl from outside. Turning to look out the tent flap, I saw movement in the camp. "It can't be." I hurried to pull my clothes back on and rushed out of the tent, the two loli monsters right behind me. There I found two things that surprised me. First, the orcs were returning sooner than I'd anticipated… again. Second, a pack of werewolves—the same red-furred werewolves we'd saved earlier that day—moved respectfully among them straight toward me. The one in the lead held her head high but quickly bowed it when she caught sight of me.

"Alpha of orcs," she said with great care and some visible trembling. "We… are grateful to you for saving our lives and apologize for not thanking you sooner. We were… disturbed by your methods and mannerisms, but that does not excuse us of our rudeness."

"Oh," I said dumbly before fixing myself and saying, "No, no, I do not require your thanks. I am glad to see so many of you still living."

The werewolf leader nodded and paused awkwardly before saying, "There are… a certain pair in particular who wish to present themselves to you. One is my daughter; she took an interest in you during the fight."

Surprised and somewhat jealous mumbling rose up among both the orcs and the pair standing behind me, but they fell quiet again when a werewolf cub, about 9 years old in terms of appearance, stepped forward from among the throng. The air about the girl was… strange-I could tell that much immediately. She didn't look at me with the wild eyes of a werewolf, but with cold, empty eyes which hid their emotions deep inside. It was unnerving, but also intriguing.

The leader spoke again gesturing upwards as she did so. "The other one is that harpy circling overhead. Apparently, she watched you a few days ago when you became the Alpha of these orcs, but she has been too nervous to come near. She finds you… alluring and terrifying at the same time."

I looked up and saw a pink-feathered harpy slowly descending, hiding herself behind a nearby tent and peaking out from behind it. Her fear was understandable: if she really did watch me on that mountainside, then she undoubtedly saw me slice off Lieutenant Riters's head in an act of cold-blooded murder. "I see." I slowly looked back and forth between the trembling harpy and the gloomy cub. "Well… this is quite a surprise. …But certainly not an unwelcome one."

* * *

****At that moment, in the holy nation of Teratalia, the most powerful anti-monster nation in the world, an emergency meeting of the high priests of the Order was assembled.****

****"It is true, our scouts have confirmed what happened in the village: Cormiander has betrayed us."****

****"Well, it's hardly surprising. We've known how easily he could turn ever since that incident on the training field when he was 13."****

****"The angel messenger said the Chief Deity is truly grieved by this. Whatever faults Cormiander had, she truly wanted to believe he could turn the tide in this war and put an end to the Overlord's sacrilegious rebellion."****

****"Perhaps it is our fault for not trusting her judgement. We did intentionally keep him away from the battle lines because of our own biased suspicions."****

****"I don't care how blasphemous it is to say this: the Chief Deity is a fool if she honestly believed for even an instant that Cormiander would remain loyal to us. We all saw the signs; we knew he couldn't be trusted. At least this way, we minimized the damage."****

****"No, we didn't. The Chief God believes Cormiander kidnapped a holy angel in the midst of his defection. He intends to commit blasphemy of the highest magnitude by monsterizing her!"****

****"This insult cannot stand! We must seek him out and publicly execute him immediately."****

****"What? So soon? All people, rich and poor, king and peasant alike, are looking at us right now and wondering if our resistance if futile. If we break this news to them before achieving total victory in the Animal Country, we could lose our hold on this nation and the rest of the remaining loyal countries along with it."****

****"You raise a valid point. Very well, we shall not execute him yet and perhaps never publicly, but we must still act with haste. If we do not find him now, he will soon lie far beyond our influence. Send out the Five immediately; starting now their mission shall be to track down Cormiander and bring him back, alive if possible, dead if necessary. If they fail to do so within three weeks… then we must accept that giving chase is impossible… for now."****


	5. Chapter 4: Harpy

**Chapter 4: Harpy  
**  
_When I first saw him, he was absolutely… terrifying. I had never seen anyone kill so many men before. I mean, his spirit energy smelled so good, but after seeing that, I almost decided he was no good. But before I left, I heard him give a speech and saw the orcs bow down before him. It was so confusing. Were they blind? Or easily duped? Or maybe… could they see something in him I didn't?_

_I wanted to know, so I followed them. I watched from the sky as they travelled through the Animal Country. I saw a Ratatoskr start fawning over him, though I didn't know what happened inside that tent to make her fall in love with him. And then I saw him and his orcs charge in to rescue a pack of werewolves and a gremlin from the Order. It was a bloody, terrible sight, but… maybe it was okay, since they saved lives? I wasn't sure, but the more I saw, the more I couldn't stop thinking about him._

_Was this adrenaline coursing through my body love? Or was it just confusion and fear? I couldn't tell anymore, but maybe, if I could meet him, maybe I could find out._

* * *

When I was 13, someone lied to me. He lied to me again, and again, and again until I was 15. When I finally learned the truth, it shocked me to my core and left me seriously contemplating suicide. Fortunately, I was saved by the one person I could still trust, but even so, the experience left me changed. _He_ wasn't the first person I cared about who'd lied to me and left me with nothing. There was also my mother when I was 6, my father when I was 8 and _her_ when I was 10. This latest betrayal penetrated the core of my heart and soul and left me scarred with a critical defect—a weakness that would make any future scheming on my part much more difficult.

* * *

Spring, Tinkler and I stood over a map on my desk. The Ratatoskr with white-furred paws and the gremlin in the lab coat and polka-dot bikini bickered back and forth as I puzzled over the conundrum we currently faced.

"No, no, that'll take too long. Corman wants this done sooner rather than later, right? So the best town to get the supplies is definitely this one," Tinkler said, pointing at the map. "We can get there in three days, get the parts I need for the sound dampener and be on our way in no time."

"That's too far out of the way," Spring shot back, her large tail twisting in annoyance. "There are some really bad people chasing us; we can't waste time on side trips. If we wait until after we've jumped through this gate, our path will take us right through Celendel Village."

"That'll take several weeks! And I was promised six hours of sexy experiment time if I could finish in one week!" the gremlin yelled, revealing what we all knew to be her true motives for trying to acquire the parts she desired sooner rather than later.

I also did not wish to wait that long for the green-haired beastgirl to finish her first task, though for different reasons. I did not wish to have to make up an excuse to send the tribe away every time I had to… persuade another monster girl into marrying me. Not to mention, I didn't want them overhearing the process with the angel. Even with the events of last night, there was still a certain level of trust they had with me that I dared not shatter all at once.

I sighed as the events following my introduction to the harpy, Ava, and the werewolf, Grava, replayed in my mind. The orcs had started complaining about how many mamono were trying to marry me and then Tinkler opened her big mouth and said something to the effect of, "You guys do realize this guy likes a lot of variety, right? I mean, he just forced me to marry him. And I'm pretty sure that angel—" Spring then clamped a hand over her mouth. The crowd had gone silent as the orcs tried to understand the gremlin's words.

Kal'lra, a busty orc with an x-shaped patch of black skin around her right eye, figured it out first, and misdirected the tribe's attention, urging them to welcome our guests properly, but as soon as they'd started milling about, she grabbed me and dragged me back into my tent more quickly and subtly than I'd thought her capable. And then…

* * *

"Forced? Marry? What did she mean by that?!" Kal'lra shouted, looking hurt and confused.

"Nice going, greenie," Spring said to Tinkler as the two of them followed us inside. "You could have at least tried to be a little more subtle about it."

"Well, excuse me," the gremlin huffed, walking over to sit on her throne. "I assumed they were in on all this. They are his first wives after all."

I raised my hands, attempting to mediate. "Everyone, please, calm down."

"Calm down?!" Kal'lra responded, stamping her foot in frustration. "Out of the entire tribe, I'm the only one whose had sex with you so far (**Breaking the fourth wall:** and it wasn't even a remotely decent sex scene in the story compared to the others), so how come this girl..."

"Whoa, hey, easy," I responded, trying to wrest control of the situation. "She didn't say she had sex with me."

"Then tell me she didn't!"

…What?

Kal'lra waited for a response, but I had none. Anything I said would be either a lie, a confession, or another deflection. She seemed to know it too, so when I didn't speak, she piled on more pressure. "She said you 'forced her to marry you.' How did you do that? How _could_ you do that without having sex with her? Give me a straight answer."

I maintained my silence a moment longer as I racked my brain for a loophole. If I'd had more time, perhaps I could've come up with something, but her first demand, "Tell me she didn't!" was still ringing in my ears. Finally, I sighed, and opened my mouth. "I'm sorry, I didn't intend for you to find out this way. I had hoped I could help you understand the necessity of it bit by bit, but…" I trailed off, awaiting her next response.

There were many things she could've said that I had an answer for. There were also many things I anticipated she might say or do that would ruin my plans for her and the tribe. But when she looked up from the ground, stared directly into my eyes and spoke again, she said the one thing I hadn't expected—could not have conceived.

"You broke your promise. You lied to us."

I was more stunned this time than I was before. Lied? Me? "What? No, I—How? I never said I wouldn't expand my harem! How have I lied to you?"

"You said that anyone who wants sex with you has to earn it. Well? Did _she_ earn it?" she said, gesturing toward Tinkler.

The gremlin in question, leaning back in a rather relaxed-looking pose and staring up at the ceiling, took this opportunity to say, "That's technically true, the first time we had sex was before I'd done anything for you. Hell, I still haven't done anything yet."

My jaw worked noiselessly for a moment. "I… I…" My breathing started to get ragged. "I… I lied? …No… I didn't mean… I…" My legs started to wobble, and I instinctively reached out to the desk trying to maintain my balance. I heard someone say my name, but it felt as if it came from a great distance as my vision grew hazy and I collapsed to the floor. "R-Reggie! I… I need…" My eyes darted and my hands flailed as I sought refuge from my own mind.

Suddenly, a furry, living mass was thrust into my arms. I held it close, felt it lick my hand, and slowly my vision and hearing cleared. Above me, all three of my wives, including Kal'lra, were standing over me with concerned looks on their faces. "Corman/Chief/Dear are you alright?" they were all saying, each placing a hand on me, attempting to soothe me. They weren't the only ones who'd seen though; through the tent flap, I could see the pink-feathered harpy and the red-furred werewolf peeking in on us.

This was the absolute worst possible scenario, if not in reality, then at least for my pride and dignity. Using that as the foundation of my anger, I delved into my Rage potion and bolstered my willpower. Attempting to push them away without being rough, I said, "I'm alright. I'll be alright." I was still breathing heavily, but I forced myself to sit up, still clutching the concerned dog in my arms.

After a moment to regain my composure, I reluctantly explained. "I'm sorry, I… had hoped you would never see me like this. …Kal'lra, I… I may be deceptive, but it was not my intention to tell a lie. If it had been, I couldn't have done it. I…" I paused for a moment, but forced myself to proceed. "I have… a lot of bad memories of people lying to me. When I was 15, I was traumatized so badly that the mere thought of telling a lie makes me… unwell. It's not merely a matter of being unwilling to lie: I _cannot_ do it—not intentionally. When I said those who want sex must earn it, I meant it, but I phrased it incorrectly. I should have said, 'Any of _my wives_ who want sex must earn it.'"

Slowly, I released Regina, stood up and turned to Kal'lra. "Please, don't tell the others. I… I have my reasons for the secrets I keep—deep, personal reasons. I'm… not ready to discuss them yet."

The orc paused and wavered for a few moments. "Fine," she finally said, "but this conversation ain't over. I'll… wait until tomorrow. You rest and feel better."

With that she turned and walked out past the harpy and the werewolf at the entrance. As they continued to stare at me, one with fear and concern, the other with an indecipherable, deadpan face, I groaned inwardly. This was the last way I wanted to make a first impression.

* * *

I sighed and rubbed my temples at the memory. The gesture did not go unnoticed; both Spring and Tinkler ceased their heated discussion and turned toward me in concern. Seeking to direct them away from any unpleasant topics, I tried to focus on the task at hand. "Perhaps there is a way to do both. It doesn't take an entire tribe to go shopping, does it? Maybe we could split off a small portion of the force to go on a supply run while we continue eastward toward the next gate."

Spring shot down my idea immediately. "Even if we tried that, we'd still have to slow down and wait for them at some point. The Order could catch up to us pretty quickly in that case… I'm surprised you didn't think of that yourself."

My wives were getting far too observant for my own good. She was right; if I had thought that idea through before I proposed it, I would have seen such an obvious flaw. It was a subtle clue into the fact that my mind was unfocused.

Before I could formulate a response, there was a low, "Um, uh…" from nearby. Turning my head to the front of the tent, I saw a girl peeking her head through the entrance. It took me a moment to recognize her as Ava the harpy. My Rage potion boiled inside me at the fact that she had now peeked in at an inopportune moment twice in less than 24 hours. Working to hold it in check by focusing on her cute shyness, I said, "I'm sorry, Ava, but I'd rather you not eavesdrop. If you wish to enter and join the conversation, please ask permission first."

She visibly twitched and shook as I spoke to her. Poor girl must've been terrified of getting on my bad side. "Ah, I-I'm sorry! I-I just, uh…" She mumbled something I couldn't quite hear, but apparently Tinkler and Spring did because they perked up immediately.

"Seriously?!" the gremlin sitting on the bizarre hovering contraption said, eyes sparkling a bit. "Well, don't just stand there, come on, explain it!"

I glanced around in some confusion. "Pardon? Explain what?"

The Ratatoskr turned back to me and repeated, "She said she thinks she can help us with this."

I turned back to the harpy gripping the tent flap with one wing and mumbling, still mostly outside the tent. I raised a hand to stop her and said, "I can't hear you from over there. Please, come inside and speak up." When the girl flinched again, I added, "Don't worry, I won't bite."

Slowly, the harpy revealed herself fully for the first time. She had pink-feathered wings and orange hair reaching down to the middle of her back. In place of human legs and feet were the legs and talons of a bird, but her upper body, ignoring the wings, was very human and mostly exposed. She wore only a short red skirt and an almost nonexistent red bra, suggesting that she wasn't normally the shy type. With me, however, she was, and it was with painstaking slowness that she set one talon inside the tent, then the other and shuffled inside with her wings wrapped around her stomach.

* * *

_I felt like I was walking up to some unknown god. I didn't believe he was bad per se, not after what I saw the previous night, but I didn't know what might set him off either. And… I was also still worried about what she told me. I just didn't know what to expect anymore or what to believe._

_All I did know was that this man made my heart throb, and I wanted to make him happy if I could. So, despite my fears, I walked in and said as loudly as I could make myself, "W-w-well, I-I could f-fly over and g-get what you need while you're m-moving. Flying is much f-faster than riding horses, y-you know? I c-can't carry a lot, but…" I trailed off, praying he wouldn't tell me it was a dumb idea._

_All three of them, the blonde-haired man wearing the reading glasses, the green-haired girl wearing almost invisible boots, and the chipmunk-girl in the sleeveless brown shirt and leafy green skirt, glanced at each other and then at the map on the desk._

_After a moment of silence, this incredibly dangerous man looked up at me… and smiled. "Yes, that is an excellent idea. We'll save quite a bit of time that way and will be able to finally put some of our spoils to good use. Thank you very much." He thanked me. My heart pounded, and my entire body flushed with a pleasant heat._

_He didn't notice, of course, and turned to the Ratatoskr. "See? I said we could find a way to do both."_

_The gremlin scoffed. "He says, as if it was his idea all along. Speaking of which, why are you volunteering anyway?"_

_I blinked in surprise. "What? Oh, uh, well, th-that is the rule, i-isn't it? I have to w-w-work for se—eep!" I clamped a wing over my mouth when I realized what I was saying. It's not like I was sure I wanted to marry him, so why would I imply that I was by talking about working for sex?_

_He seemed pretty happy about it, though. He turned smugly to the girl in the hovering chair and said, "See? She gets it! Working for sex is important! It's not fair for everyone else if you try to ambush me first thing in the morning!"_

_"Hmph!" the gremlin responded. "Dumb rule."_

_By this point, the other girl was looking at me somewhat apologetically. She tried to interrupt the bickering by pointing to the map and saying, "Then I guess we should tell her where she needs to go?"_

_But they weren't focused on us anymore. "Please, do," was his only response before he continued reprimanding the green-haired girl. "It's not a dumb rule; it's how I maintain order and how I keep us from getting killed by the Order."_

_I felt a tug on my wing as the Ratatoskr picked up the map and said, "Come on, let's get you ready to leave." I nodded then cocked my head, subconsciously disturbed by the way she said that… almost as if she was hoping to have one less rival for a while. Still, I knew the best way to make him pleased with me was to make myself useful, so I didn't argue as she led me out of the tent… and past the angry orc from the previous night on her way in._

* * *

It took a moment to realize that Kal'lra was asking for permission to enter. When we did notice though, both me and Tinkler fell silent. "Enter." The orc entered, her height seeming more imposing than usual despite her efforts to make herself seem small.

There was an awkward silence, made all the more so when Tinkler said, "Well… looks like you've got a lot to talk about sooo,.. see ya," and made a beeline for the exit.

After several more moments of pause, I sighed and said, "Well, where do we stand?"

Kal'lra didn't seem to get my meaning… or perhaps, she didn't want to. She listed off a report I'd asked for earlier that day concerning the prisoners—specifically how many had been overcome by mamono mana and transformed while we were in the Animal Country. "We now got three holstaurs, a weresheep and a werecat along with two incubi. The rest are still human."

I nodded, silently impressed with the haul. "The holstaurs and the weresheep will be useful, but not the werecat. We'll need to release her and also her lover, if she has one." Noticing the look on Kal'lra's face, I added, "I don't intend to add these prisoners to my harem; they're not that useful. But we can get a decent amount of money from selling holstaur milk and weresheep wool. If we use them to monsterize some of the other female prisoners and then have them marry some of the male prisoners, we'll have our own little mobile monster girl dairy farm. Once they become married monsters, the prisoners won't care about what we do with them so long as we don't stop them from having sex."

"Oh." Kal'lra looked a bit relieved, but didn't say anything more.

The awkward silence returned at double the intensity. Finally, I said, "So, where do _we_ stand? Are you… do you plan on leaving me?"

Kal'lra's eyes jerked up, a look of shock on her face. "What? No, of course not! Me and you are married! I could never leave. But…" Here she looked away and said, "I… can't speak for the others. They… they know something's up by now, and they ain't happy. Especially not Sava. She judged our match and got the tribe through the gate when me and you went and saved Tinkler. She… she thinks she shoulda been next, you know?"

I nodded again, this time somberly. With the benefit of hindsight, I hadn't really been thinking of the orcs as individuals with individual wills. At some point, I had started to view them all, including Sava, the only other orc whose name I'd memorized, as an extension of Kal'lra. Of course they wouldn't be satisfied just because I (supposedly) had sex with Kal'lra first. "I see… how many do you believe will leave the tribe?"

But once again, Kal'lra looked surprised, though this time just for a moment. "They ain't gonna leave the _tribe_. They're gonna leave _you_. I mean, they haven't actually married you yet, so they think they don't gotta if you're gonna do stuff like this. They'll still see you as the Chieftain, though, because _I_ married you, and I was the Chief first."

"Wait, what?" Now it was my turn to be startled. I had thought becoming the Chieftain was synonymous with marrying all the orcs, in their minds at least. Perhaps the information in the _Monster Girl Encyclopedia_ was incomplete or even slightly erroneous. "So… I'm still the Chieftain whether they marry me or not?"

"Yes. And some of them do still wanna marry you. I'm pretty sure Sava does. She got hurt bad, but she's also made up her mind. She's worked hard for you, and she ain't the type to give up. But most of them… Well, they don't like it and some have been eyeing the prisoners, thinking they'd make better husbands."

"Oh," I said, covering my hand with my mouth… to hide the smile threatening to reveal my relief to the _only orc whose opinion really mattered a great deal_. If the tribe would follow me but most of them didn't want me, that would dramatically cut the time wasted on sex in the future. This is what I thought to myself, but aloud I said, "It was never my intention to break their hearts like this. If they would be happier with other men, I suppose that is for the best, though I am concerned about how many of the male prisoners will be married off because of this." As always, my words were true, even if they didn't portray my actual thoughts and emotions. "Go on, and continue making preparations to leave. I will… speak to the tribe, admit my error and let them know that I will respect whatever choice they make."

Kal'lra nodded, opened her mouth as if she wanted to say more, closed it without speaking and turned around. Smiling more broadly now, I made a mental note to self: Kal'lra was far more intelligent and dangerous than I'd originally assumed… but she was still malleable. Perhaps it would be for the best if I gave her a higher security clearance—allowed her a bit more knowledge of my plans rather than wait for her to find out on her own—and used her malleability to help me keep my secrets from the rest of the tribe.

Yet just as she was about to exit the tent, Kal'lra spoke one more time. "I… I love you, you know. But I know you don't love me as much as your newer, smarter wives. I… won't lose to them, so please… look at me a little more."

She left, and I sat down in my desk chair with her words echoing in my ears. "Love?" I asked, momentarily overcome with emotion, but then the Rage inside me boiled again as I remembered all those who had told me that before. "Heh, yeah, sure, you can believe that if you want. And I will continue to exploit that belief. As for myself, I will never forget the truth."

* * *

_Being in that encampment was stifling. I was surrounded by big-chested orcs who made my bust, which was a C-cup, look flat by comparison. Plus, they were all taller or thicker or both, and they all looked strong. Then there was him. Tall, cute face, unreadable personality, dangerous, kind… I could not understand my feelings for him even when I was close to him._

_But when I left the camp, I felt… empty. Oh, sure, at first it felt nice to be back in the sky, but after a couple hours, I realized how alone I was. I used to have a flock, but I lost them not long before I started following the tribe. Right now, soaring above the plains, I longed for company, and to my surprise, I desired his more than anyone else's. He was scary, yes, but I never felt bored near him, and I certainly didn't get lonely with all the other smiling faces in the tribe._

_I pressed on, reaching the village I'd seen on the map after about half a day, but even among so many people, I longed for him. Everything I saw and, in particular, everything I bought on his behalf made me think more and more about him. His cute, handsome face, his blonde hair, the reassuring look he had when he was wearing his reading glasses, even the way he appeared in his armor—glorious, powerful and dangerous._

_I had to spend the night in that village. All of my dreams were of a tribe of boisterous orcs, a playful Ratatoskr, and a snide but good-hearted gremlin. And he was there in their midst, with an adorable Shetland Sheepdog on his lap, smiling at me alluringly and beckoning me to join the party… and the after-party. But my dreams turned into a nightmare at the very end when they all vanished and _

she_ appeared in their place. "You don't belong here," she said, staring at me with her cold, piercing eyes. "You're too soft. He's a killer, and he's going to kill again. I know that. I'm okay with that. Are you?"_

_Then suddenly I was surrounded by mutilated corpses covered in gold armor and blood. "Can you do what he wants?" Some of them started to get up and pick up weapons. "Could you kill a man?" The weapons came at me…_

_I woke up._

_The nightmare disturbed me, but the more I thought about it, the more I understood. Yes, finally I knew how I felt, and that filled me with a need. I needed to go back and see him. I needed to let him know what I'd decided. So I packed up the equipment and left the village, even though it was still the middle of the night._

* * *

The next day, while the tribe was packing up to head to the next gate where we would meet up with Ava, Kal'lra came to my tent again. "It's almost time to go," she said as I looked up from my studies. "Are you ready? You don't look like you've packed."

"No, I've been preoccupied," I admitted, holding up the _Monster Girl Encyclopedia, Complete and Final Edition_. "This morning, I thought about how that harpy girl, Ava, was off getting supplies for us, and it reminded me of something I'd read before. And something about what I remembered bothered me, so I looked it up. Did you know that harpies have mating seasons?" The orc shook her head and I took that as a sign to continue. "For a basic harpy, the mating season goes from June to August. But its currently May, and that got me thinking that we might not have a normal harpy among us."

Kal'lra's eyes lit up a bit. "Are you saying she's a 'special'? I've heard of those! Ain't they supposed to be stronger and lewder than most mamono?"

I sighed a bit and corrected my wife. "The word you're looking for is 'mutation.' And I don't know if she is or not; all I know for sure is she's a different breed from the one mentioned in the encyclopedia. Her feathers are a completely different color—I didn't notice at first because while the harpy pictured in the book doesn't have pink _feathers_, she does have pink _hair_ and it's been a while since I actually looked at this picture—and she has expressed affection for me outside the normal mating season, which indicates that she may have a different mating season from normal harpies or that she has no specified mating season. All I can say with certainty is that if she _is_ in her mating season, it would be best to marry her while her personality is still rather tame, otherwise she will likely attempt to forcefully seize sex soon, and that would be… disruptive."

The confused look on Kal'lra's face morphed into one of jealousy. "So… you're going to have sex with _another_ person who hasn't earned it?"

"No," I said, putting as much emphasis on the word as I could. "She's making herself useful right now, isn't she? So I'm going to have sex with someone who _has_ earned it." I paused for a moment and looked down. "I… thought you should know. Actually, there's… something else you should know."

I removed my reading glasses and stood up, meeting Kal'lra's eyes for a moment before turning away and clearing my throat. "You… opened my eyes the other day," I said, going through the speech I'd prepared beforehand. "You've been nothing but loyal and supportive since I defeated you. But I haven't been particularly upfront with you through all this. So, before we go any further, I want to confess a secret I've been hiding from the beginning."

She looked at me curiously and worriedly as I walked over to my trunk.

* * *

_I arrived late the next morning after an exhausting all-night flight. The plan had been to meet at the gate this evening, but I couldn't wait that long. I came down into the camp, which was almost completely packed into the carts, and looked around. I found the gremlin lazing around on her throne watching the orcs work and gave her the parts she'd asked for._

_"Um, where is… he?" I asked hesitatingly as she started happily analyzing the supplies._

_"He? You mean Corman?" she asked, not understanding my unwillingness to refer to him casually. "He's still in his tent talking to the busty chick about something or other. He probably asked everyone to pack up his stuff after they're done in there." I thanked her, and turned to look for his tent._

_But I saw _

her_ first. She was staring at me again, with that creepy face. In real life, I'd only heard her speak once, but I still remembered what she said: "He's lying. He's trying to control them. Because he wants them to kill for him." Those were her exact words after we saw him the other night confessing his mental trauma._

_But I refused to stop here. I'd made my decision, and I wasn't going to change it now. So, I averted my eyes, though I could still feel her watching me, and walked over to his tent. I was about to ask for permission to enter when I heard a shout from inside._

_"You did WHAT?!"_

_The sound made me flinch and shy away, but I quickly realized it wasn't him. It was someone else—the "busty chick" the gremlin mentioned. A quieter voice shushed her, and they continued their conversation too quietly to make out from where I was standing._

_…_

_I knew he told me not to eavesdrop, but I was too startled to go in and too unwilling to leave. So I crept closer and listened for a good chance to interrupt._

* * *

"An angel?"

"Yes."

"You kidnapped an angel?"

"Again, yes."

The conversation had gone back and forth like this from the moment I opened the trunk. Kal'lra pointed back and forth between the mystically silenced angel and me, her mouth agape asking the same question again and again. Finally she stopped, ran a hand through her hair and let out a long breath. "That… Actually, that's kinda cool."

I couldn't help but blink in surprise. "Really? You think so?" It was an unexpected reaction from the orc; I had thought she would get mad or at least a bit jealous.

"Well,… I don't like that you've got another loli wife, but… it's still cool that you fucked the Chief God like that." Ah, okay, that response made sense. Monster girls were instinctively biased against the Order and the Chief God, so it was only natural, I supposed.

Still… "For the record, she's not my wife. …And what do mean, 'another _loli_ wife'?" She had, as anticipated, gotten the wrong impression. …And was also, perhaps, discovering a little too much about my sexual preferences, even if she still understood next to nothing in that regard.

Kal'lra turned to look at me with eyelids lowered and her mouth taut. "Right. _Not_ your wife. She's _going_ to be your wife. You know the tribe is not—"

"She's not going to be my wife," I interrupted, trying to cool her down as quickly as possible. "She's going to be a useful pawn, yes, but—"

The orc's eyes lit up with anger and jealousy, and she started yelling at me again. "That _has_ to be a lie! Every time I turn around, you grab another loli wife outta nowhere! And then you have sex with her before she earns it! Why does the tribe have to wait when—"

I started trying to talk over her. "I'm not adding her to the harem! And I've only done what's necessary to protect the tribe and progress my plans! If you'll just listen for a moment!" But it was devolving into a shout off. After a moment, I gave up on that approach and decided to grab the undersides of the boobs waving around in my face.

"AH!" She stopped talking immediately as her breasts, still sensitized from the last time I'd had sex with her, sent a slight ticklish jolt through her body. Instinctively, she bit back laughter and grabbed my wrists. But I wasn't moving my hands, just holding them there, and trying to remove them by force would've tickled more than doing nothing. She seemed to know that and remained locked in that pose, holding my wrists, but not tugging on them.

Once all motion had stopped, I resumed speaking in the calmest voice I could manage. "I intend to monsterize this girl, yes. I find her attractive, admittedly yes. But I have no intention of marrying her. In fact, just the opposite: that must be _avoided_ if my plan is to succeed." Slowly, so as to cause as little discomfort as possible, I pulled down on the boobs, making Kal'lra bend down to my eye level and look me directly in the face. "I'm telling you this because you deserve to know… and because I trust you more than I did. That's a good thing, isn't it? When married couples trust each other more?"

The look of someone on the verge of laughter diminished a bit as Kal'lra met my stare. After a moment, she nodded and said, "O-okay, f-fahair enough." I released her boobs, something which, I'm certain, both relieved and dissatisfied her. Recomposing herself a bit, she resumed her complaints. "Even so, I still find it hard to believe you won't marry her."

I nodded and reached out to touch her arm. "I understand, and I would explain my plans concerning her to you, but… I'd rather not."

Kal'lra sent me a sharp look. "You just said you trust me!"

"I do, almost completely," I rushed to reassure her. "That has nothing to do with this. I simply want it to be a surprise." Grinning as slyly as I could, I added, "Trust me, you _will_ be surprised when you see what's coming next for her."

But the orc still looked very upset. She was quick to point out, "You just said, '_almost_ completely.' Why don't you trust me completely?"

I didn't answer right away as I let my arm fall. I didn't even try to keep the cynicism from my face as I said, "Riddle me this: do you owe all of your allegiance to me?"

"Yes," she said, sounding rather hurt.

But I wasn't done speaking. "_All_ of it? There is _no one else_ in the world that you would leave me to serve?"

"Of course not!" she responded, but again, I still wasn't finished.

"Not even a lilim? Or the Baphomet who leads the dark army? Or even the Mamono Lord herself?"

This time she did not answer right away. Her mouth flapped open and closed several times before she managed to speak again. "I… I don't know. I didn't think of that."

I softened my expression and nodded. "I suspected as much. My plan… my goals… I cannot trust you or anyone else with all of that knowledge unless I first know that the chance you will leave me to serve someone else is absolutely zero."

"But why would you think that?" she said, almost shouting again. "What are you planning? Why would you have to worry about me leaving for the Mamono Lord's sake?"

"Because I'm an evil man on a quest of vengeance." The room quieted again, and slowly, I proceeded to explain just a few fringe details. "I told you that I'm on a quest to change this world, and that's true. And I do believe this world will be a better one for all man-kind if I can institute my changes. But my motives are not all purely selfless; in fact, my top five goals are entirely selfish. And I… fear what might happen if the mamono races decided I was a threat. I fear which side you would choose: mine or theirs."

Kal'lra said nothing but simply looked away with an extremely confused and depressed frown on her face. But I had no intentions of allowing her loyalties to waver for long. "That said, there is one thing, one of my major goals, I'd be willing to share with you, if you'd like to hear it," I said, and without waiting for a response, I added, "I'm trying to save someone's life."

The orc's eyes snapped back to mine. I vaguely wondered if she was getting used to being surprised yet. "Save someone?" she asked. "Who? How?"

I gestured toward my desk, or more accurately, _underneath_ my desk. "Her. Regina."

Kal'lra blinked a few times. "Your dog?"

I nodded. "Have you noticed it yet? She never wakes up when people yell or scream or anything. She slept right through our argument a moment ago. Because she's old and almost completely deaf. And soon,… she's going to die of old age."

"Oh…" There were several moments of silence as I allowed her to process this new information. Actually, I also needed a moment of silence as I struggled to maintain a cool demeanor. Merely saying the words was hard for me, and before I was ready to proceed, she broke the silence. "But then… those men we killed… you did it… for your dog?"

The Rage potion inside me boiled at the unspoken insinuation—that Regina's life was not worth theirs. I turned a deadly gaze upon the orc and reached a hand toward my sword. But somehow, when I looked upon her sad and startled face, I managed to pull back. "That dog…" I said slowly through clenched teeth, "is everything to me. She's the only family I've had for over ten years. I will not… I _cannot_ lose her." Several bitter memories played through my mind, and I redirected the anger and my eyes toward them rather than the pig-girl. "Reggie… saved me when I thought… when I thought I had no reason to live anymore. Even if she isn't aware of it, she stopped me from committing suicide multiple times."

I heard a slight gasp, and two strong hand suddenly gripped my shoulders and twisted me around to stare straight into Kal'lra's eyes. "You woul'n't… You ain't sayin' you gunna do it if she dies are ya'?!" She was panicking so much that her accent shifted. Normally, she tried to sound as proper as she knew how, much like myself, but in this moment, she let her voice fall into its natural, farmland dialect. That was the first thing I noticed. The second was the tears pouring down her face. The third was her pulling me into her embrace while crying on my shoulder begging me not to die.

_…What? …Why…?_

I could not comprehend the situation. Of course, I _knew_ that my wives instinctually cared for me—that was part of the plan after all—but on some subconscious level, I hadn't believed they cared about me this much: enough to feel sad, share my pain, and cry for me. It left me utterly stunned.

But then the image of the last girl who cried for me flashed through my mind, and the slight crack in my heart formed by this display hardened over.

Once again operating as a smooth manipulator, I wrapped my arms around Kal'lra and patted her back. "Shh, calm down, I'm not going to commit suicide: I moved past that phase a long time ago. Even if Reggie dies, I still have goals to live for." I kept reassuring her for a few moments until she pulled away slowly. "Look, you asked me if I killed those men for the sake of one dog, yes? Well, no I didn't. Of my main goals, I would rank saving her life as number five; there are a few other things I desire even more. That said… even if, for some reason, saving her life was the only one of my goals I could achieve, I still would've done it. I would do anything to save her, even if there was no justification for it." Looking into her eyes, I repeated once again, "I would kill anyone for her sake. Does that… Do you believe that makes me a bad person?"

Kal'lra averted her eyes, either unwilling to answer or uncertain how. To my surprise, however, a voice did respond. "It doesn't." I flinched and spun around to see Ava, the harpy, peering at us from outside the tent flap. There were tears in her eyes, and before I could recover enough to yell at her for eavesdropping, she threw herself into the tent and knelt on the ground with her wings wrapped around her chest. "There's… there's nothing wrong with protecting your flock. That's exactly what you _should_ do."

* * *

_He was angry, and I knew why. But I didn't care: I needed to say how I felt right now, before I lost my courage again. "I'm sure Kal'lra and the orcs feel that away about you too. They kill for you because you're precious to them. And I… I want that too!"_

_My eyes dropped and I choked up a bit. "When I saw... what you did, I... I was scared. But I was also... jealous. ...I just didn't know why at first. It's because... because I never had anyone who... who would do anything for me." That's right. I was monsterized as a teenager when several harpies attacked my hometown. No one did anything to try and stop it; the other humans ran away and left me, including my parents. Then, as a newly reborn harpy, I was abandoned by my flock when we were attacked by a group of heroes._

_"I want... I want to be precious to you too. And if I have to be good at... k-killing to do that..." I couldn't get any more words out after that. Everything in my body screamed that I couldn't kill a man. And yet,... I wanted to believe I could, if it was for my husband's sake. After all, that was the whole point of the nightmare I'd had—the core of the decision I'd reached._

_For a little while, nothing happened. Then, he spoke. "I see... I'm glad to hear it, but... don't try too hard to prove yourself. I don't want you to put yourself in unnecessary danger." I looked up and saw a gentle smile on his face. "You don't have to be a killer to be precious to me. Just do you're part as a member of the tribe, and I'll keep you safe."_

_I stared into his face. So handsome. So fierce. So kind. The tears started pouring over my cheeks now, and I jumped up toward him. I wanted to mate with him and become more precious to him right then and there, but he reached out a hand, which gently but firmly blocked and held my face, and added, "However, I believe I told you already not to eavesdrop. Exactly... how much did you hear?"_

_His hand was so soft, and with it pressed against my nose, I was filled with his scent. But I also felt like that hand could crush my head if he didn't like my answer. "Uh, um... I heard... some yelling about... an angel?"_

_..._

_After a moment, I heard a sigh, and felt him loosen his fingers. "Well... I guess it can't be helped. Listen: don't tell anyone what you heard here today. And for the record, you and I will not have sex today; you can consider that your punishment for bad behavior."_

_I quickly pulled away and bowed stiffly. "Y-yes, of course! I'm sorry!" I righted myself, and turned toward the entrance. I couldn't tell if I was more elated by his touch or terrified by his sterness as I started to march out._

_"And Ava... thank you for saying that. It... made me happy." I looked back one more time and saw him, the mysterious, dangerous man I'd fallen in love with, smiling. It washed away my fear, and I practically flew out of the tent._

_But _

she_ was waiting for me outside. I jumped and squeaked, my feathers standing on end. "How long have you been there?" I whispered, though I wasn't sure why._

_"Long enough," she said in a voice that was as flat and cold as it was cute._

_Calming myself down and smoothing out my feathers, I forced my eyes to meet hers and said, "I... I made my choice. I'm staying." No response. "I don't know if I can... kill for him but... I'll try if I have to." Again no response. "And also, you're wrong about him. I don't believe he's lying, and I don't believe he's trying to control us. He's... just worried, that's all."_

_After a moment, she finally spoke again. "You're so stupid." And then she turned and walked away._

* * *

I sighed after Ava was gone and leaned on my desk. "That girl... she really is in the middle of her mating season, isn't she? There's no way she'd fall in love with some deadly stranger she obviously fears if she wasn't. Hmm, what to do..."

"U-umm..." I looked up to see Kal'lra still in the tent, staring at me resolutely. "I-I agree with what that girl said just now. There's nothing wrong with killing for the people we love. I mean, I done it too, for you, so... But the tribe, they... they ain't... they deserve..."

"They deserve more from me," I finished, nodding my head. "Yes, I know. Alright, how about this; once we've passed through the next gate and traveled about halfway to the next one, we'll take a day off, and I'll reward everyone who has earned it. It's risky, but... we're making good progress, and I think they've waited long enough."

The orc practically beamed, which I felt was rather odd considering I'd just consented to have sex with more of her rivals. But perhaps her jealousy just didn't extend to her sister orcs. In any event she bounded over, grabbed my hand and kissed me full on the lips before thanking me profusely. I carefully pushed her away before her mamono instincts pushed us into a more sexual situation and changed the subject by asking her to help me take down my tent—all this talk was holding up the rest of the tribe.

As we exited, something caught my eye. Or rather someone. "Oh," I said, "On second thought, there's one more thing I need to check. Could you start without me?" Without waiting for a response, I dived back into the tent and started flipping through the pages. "'W'... 'W'..." I finally stopped when I arrived at the page marked "Werewolf." I scanned the page thoroughly before closing the book. "As I thought. Nothing." There was absolutely nothing that could explain the behavior of that girl, Grava. Her cold, blank demeanor was blatantly unnatural, and I believed the other mamono could sense it. The harpy seemed even more jumpy around her than she was around me. What could have caused...?

I heard a fluttering sound, and looked up just in time to get a face-full of tent fabric. "Kal'lra! Don't tear down the tent while I'm still inside!"

* * *

I can't tell a lie. Despite all of my deceptions and treacheries against the Order and my manipulation of my wives, I could never tell a direct lie. All I could do was circumvent questions or imply untrue answers. Perhaps that was why I had a vague memory of someone at some point in the past calling me "the honest traitor." Although, if anyone asked me, I couldn't have said who it was or when... or even whether it was a memory or a dream.


	6. Interlude 1: A Day Off

**Interlude 1: A Day Off**

**"****Listen to me son! You… you cannot stay here!"**

**"Why?! I know mama did something bad, but I don't wanna leave!"**

**"I know. But… this isn't… something you should grow up with. You're better off somewhere else. Take this."**

**"Huh? Monster... Girl…?"**

**"This book will help you understand in time. Now go!"**

**"No! Why?! Why do I hafta go?!"**

**"…Because… my son, one of the most precious things you can have is freedom or… control over your own body and mind. The more control other people and things have over you, the less free you are. Your mother… what she's done has turned us into slaves. I am losing all control of myself. I can barely think straight. Hell, I'm probably making a big mistake right now, but… You, you can still be free if you leave now. Besides, if you grow up in a house like this… you could easily become something… detestable. I wanted to protect you from that, but now I can't think of any way to do it. So go! Go and take control!"**

* * *

I awoke from a most unpleasant dream one morning as if the order to leave at the end had forced me back into the present day. The memory of my own father throwing me out of my home to fend for myself was still fresh in my thoughts as I slowly opened my eyes, but the sight before me drove it from my mind in an instant. Tinkler was lying next to me on the bed and her face was right in front of mine, staring at me with that mischievous grin of hers.

"Hi," she said in a slightly nasal tone, leaning in close enough for me to smell her perfume, which she had once informed me was laced with an aphrodisiac.

Normally, I would have jumped to full wakefulness just from this, particularly because this gremlin had already tried to push me into having sex while drowsy several times. But this time, I was so incredibly comfortable and my body felt so heavy that it was difficult to motivate myself to move at all. After several moments, I started to realize the reason for this: there was something large and furry draped over my body where my blanket should be. Also something was gripping my legs and pressing two big, soft, fleshy mounds into them.

"Huh. This is new." Turning my gaze and head bit by bit, I confirmed my suspicions. The furry thing on top of me was Spring's tale; the Ratatoskr was lying down behind me, pressed into my back and sleeping peacefully. As for my legs, the person gripping them was Kal'lra, who snored just loudly enough to be heard and quietly enough not to be annoying. I also saw a certain harpy and werewolf standing next to the bed, the first looking like she wanted to join in, the other as unreadable as always.

At this point, I was turned on such that I wouldn't have resisted any of them if they tried to have sex with me. But I was also aware of my own mental state, and after Tinkler's numerous attempts to ambush me in my sleep, I'd prepared for this situation. Already inside my mouth were several pills containing Rage potion. All I needed to do was bite them open and swallow the juice inside, and as soon as I did…

"Does my bed look like a barn?! What is everyone doing here?!" I bolted upright with newfound anger, yelling much more loudly than I'd intended. Instantly the two who'd fallen asleep with me also woke up, the harpy jumped backward, and the gremlin laughed uproariously.

Spring, clad only in a pair of panties, and Kal'lra, her nipples and privates on full display, both started talking at once, and a certain dog, who apparently had also found a place on the bed, started maneuvering among us, trying to sniff and lick everyone at once. "I'm so sorry, Chief—" "What, we, uh, see it was Tinkler—" "—was trying to get in the tent, and we tried to stop her—" "—wanted to talk to you, but you were asleep and we thought it might be an excuse—" "—tied her up and came in with her—" The babbling came so quickly I couldn't make sense of it beyond the fact that they seemed to be blaming Tinkler, who still hadn't moved. No, wait, she couldn't move. As I took in more of the situation, I realized she was completely wrapped up in rope, from her neck down to her feet. All that could be seen of her was her head, with its cute but mean-looking face and green-furred pointy ears, and her feet clad in invisible boots. No, actually considering she was in my bed, she was probably barefoot.

As the chatter quieted, I groaned and rubbed my eyelids. "…Okay, could you explain again more slowly?" I was beginning to wonder if there was anything that _could_ explain this.

This time it was the giggling gremlin who spoke up. "Hehe, you owe me some sexy time. Six hours of it, to be precise."

It took me a moment to figure out what she meant. When I did, my eyebrows shot up. "You finished it? The soundproofing device for my tent?" The gremlin hummed and nodded in response. This pleasant news elated my temper, but… "That… doesn't really explain much. I want to know why you were all in my bed. You know I don't want to be surprised like this; that's why I asked for a pair of guards outside."

"Well…" This time Spring, now standing next to the bed with Kal'lra, started talking. "Tinkler was so excited she wanted to tell you the news the moment you woke up."

"But we thought she was probably making an excuse to ambush you in your bed again," Kal'lra added.

"So we tied her up and came in to keep an eye on her. We… only meant to wait for you to wake up… but…" The Ratatoskr hugged herself sheepishly just below her flat chest and turned away, refusing to meet my eyes.

Kal'lra finished the thought with her head bowed low in apology. "We got sleepy watching you sleep. And… we really wanted to sleep next to you. I'm sorry."

I groaned again and furrowed my eyebrows. That was such a foolish and childish reason to remove their clothing and get into my bed. Then again, I was talking to an orc and a loli. "I see… Alright, Tinkler, I understand; Spring, I somewhat understand; but Kal'lra, I thought you knew better than that. Did I make a mistake trusting you with security while I'm asleep?"

The orc snapped her head up for a moment, the eyes below her pink piggy ears welling up with tears after she gasped. "I-I-I'm so sorry! It won't happen again!" she yelled practically crying and bowing even deeper. The gesture made her enormous breasts hang beneath her practically in front me and just above her vagina, and a part of me was amazed at how mamono could subconsciously make any situation lewder without trying, even if they were apologizing for creating a lewd situation.

After a moment, I softened my gaze. "Well… I suppose what's done is done. In any event, I am pleased to hear the news." _And,_ I added silently, _it's not as though I actually disliked it. I just don't want to lose control of myself._ I took a deep breath and allowed my lust to cool down the Rage a bit. "In any case, I'd like you to call the tribe together." Looking pointedly at Kal'lra, I added, "I did promise to dole out some rewards when we reached this place; now is as good a time as any for some overdue fun."

Just then a giggled complaint came from below me on the bed. "Thahat's great and all but—HE—could you tehell your dog to stop—ERK—stop licking my feet? It tickles!"

I glanced down to see that, yes, Regina had discovered the gremlin's feet at some point during the conversation. "…Alright let's get going everyone."

"Hey! Don't—AH—don't ignore mehehe!"

* * *

It took longer for Spring and Kal'lra to get their clothes back on than it did for the entire assemblage of orcs to gather in front of my tent. I scanned the crowd and made out more than a few weary faces as well as many hopeful or expectant ones. Right now would have been an excellent time to use my "Amplify" spell, but unfortunately, that was not presently an option, so I was forced to yell as loudly as I could.

"Orcs of the Galna'bar tribe, you have done well. You have been very patient with me as we've fled the Order's forces and I thank you for that. Among you are many whose service has been of great note, and though we are still pressed for time, I want to take today off and offer appropriate rewards to as many of you as possible." I paused my speech and unrolled a sheet of parchment. "I have prepared here a list of those who most deserve to be awarded and the reasons why. Before I begin, though, let me state that anyone I've already had sex with will receive their rewards last, regardless of the order I read this in. Also, it has come to my attention that many of you no longer desire me for your husband, so let me state for the record that you will be allowed to receive alternative rewards, such as one of the prisoners, if you so desire.

"First, an Exemplary Service Award goes to Kal'lra for her assistance as my second-in-command and her great skill and loyalty on the battlefield, having killed four men in the fight to retrieve Tinkler and two when we first met.

"Second, an Exemplary Service Award goes to Sava, our third-in-command, who led the majority of the tribe to safety while I was off fighting. Also, for her management, overlooking the packing and unpacking of the tribe, keeping us moving swiftly and efficiently without leaving anything behind.

"Third, an Exemplary Service Award goes to Shilve, partly for her role in capturing a Ratatoskr (quite unexpected, I assure you) and partly for her display of loyalty in killing one of the Order's soldiers in each of our previous skirmishes. Also, for the encouraging motivation she gave her sisters every day to be patient and trust in me."

Several voices of surprise went up at that one. None of them had seen me interact largely with any orcs other than Kal'lra and Sava, so they probably hadn't expected me to know that much about Shilve. And I wasn't anywhere near the bottom of the list yet.

"Also, assuming the sound-proofing I requested works as intended, an Exemplary Service Award will be awarded to Tinkler the gremlin for her speed and ingenuity.

"Now, moving down the list a bit. The following individuals have been deemed worthy of a Great Service Award: Hal'torah, Sarah, Rel'bosh, Milnora, Verinda, and Eledor for their loyalty on the battlefield, each killing one enemy in the fight to save Tinkler; Wampa for her participation in capturing a Ratatoskr; Baldebora for watching over the prisoners like a hawk, keeping them tame and loading and unloading them quickly; Ava the harpy, for her support as a supply runner these past few days, allowing us to move quickly without any side stops; and Swedilishin, our chef, who I must say has done an impressive job supervising meal preparation for over 200 people including members of about seven non-orc races without any of them raising a single complaint about the food being bland or gross."

I paused a moment to let my words seep into the crowd. I doubted they'd expected me to mention many of those names, particularly Swedilishin, who had done nothing of note beyond cooking. But that was my point: you didn't necessarily need to be a skilled leader or warrior to be rewarded. You could gain my favor simply by making yourself exceptional in some day-to-day activity.

Suddenly, from among the crowd, a voice called, "Hey! What about me?! I've helped out a lot, haven't I?!" The speaker was Spring, and her indignation, though understandable, earned some angry, jealous looks from nearby orcs.

"Ah, yes," I said, starting slowly and then speeding up, "about that. Spring, you _did_ earn an Exemplary Service Award for providing me with much needed information and helping me plan our travel route, _but_…" I paused and let that word hang in the air for a moment before continuing. "I believe—and I would think you already realize this—you have already been rewarded in full for that. So, you'll have to sit this one out and allow someone else to take a turn."

Spring immediately started pouting, but the orcs seemed quite pleased by this turn, some pumping their fists and some snickering into their hands. Despite her cuteness and outgoing personality, the Ratatoskr had earned quite a few enemies—(or at least, rivals)—since she joined the tribe, mainly because there was a rumor running about that she was my favorite wife. In truth, that probably was the case, but I didn't want everyone else feeling that way, so today would be a good opportunity to make myself appear a bit more like an equal opportunity lover.

"In any event, I'm sure there are others who feel they deserve more recognition than they're getting. I'm sorry for that: I don't want to deny anyone their due. Even so, we're not really safe yet; the Order probably won't catch up with us today, but they will most certainly gain ground on us. When we have more time, I will establish some more… concrete rules for how rewards are handed out. For now, I will simply do what I can for anyone I can find who gives her all to her work and performs spectacularly. Now, I'd like to meet with each girl I named one at a time. Please form a line in the following order…"

* * *

**(Author's note: I tried writing this next part from Sava's perspective, but… her accent was way too distracting. I didn't like it—I couldn't focus on the sex, and I didn't think anyone else would be able to either. After about five paragraphs, I lost the motivation to keep writing, so I eventually decided to scrap it and just tell this whole chapter from Corman's perspective.)**

"Well, then, you've waited quite a long time for this, haven't you? …Is something wrong? You seem… anxious."

Sava the orc fidgeted before me inside the (now soundproofed) tent. She was short (for an orc) and stocky but with a cute, rosy-cheeked face that made her not-unattractive. Now that I was taking a good look at her—perhaps for the first time—I noticed that she had several more patches of black skin than most of her sisters. Two in particular caught my attention: one that surrounded her navel and one on the side of her left breast shaped like a three-pronged Zipangu kunai.

She was trying to look at me, but her eyes kept darting to the side as she twiddled her fingers and rubbed her thighs together. "Nuthin's wrong, i's jus'… The Chief-er-ah mean, Kal'lra, she tol' me tha' yah like ta tickle yo' wives. Oh, an' tha' ya ken make ya wives moar ticklish. Ah ain't neva bin tickled afore, so… I's a little nervus."

…Oh, that accent was so annoying… and yet, her behavior right now was so cute, I was beginning not to mind. After a moment's thought, I nodded my head and said, "I understand, of course. It's only natural that you would be apprehensive about something you've never experienced. Do not fear: I promise I will be gentle and kind with you. I will have to tie you up, though, if only for role-play purposes."

"Oh, ah don' mind that," she said, looking up at me with a bashful smile. "Do whut you want; ah'm all yurs."

Having had sex with a willing Kal'lra and Spring before, her eagerness was no longer as unnerving as Kal'lra's had been the first time. Nonetheless, I still had to take a deep breath before asking Sava to lie down on my mattress and stretch herself out. "CHAIN BIND!" Once again, the tattoos on my left arm glowed for a moment, and when the light faded, Sava was gently but firmly secured to the bed.

I climbed onto the bed and looked down at her expectant face. "Now, then, are you ready?" Sava bit her lip and then nodded. Rolling up my other sleeve, I pointed my palm toward her and declared "SENSITIZE!" Her body glowed for a moment, with the effect seeming to linger on her body's dark spots before fading.

After that… truly, the most awkward part about dealing with a willing victim is figuring out where first to place your hands and how hard or gentle to start off. _Well,_ I supposed, _the most obvious place to begin would be her chubby belly and I did promise to be gentle so there was really no question there._ Having made my decision, I placed my fingertips on her stomach and lightly and slowly stroked up and down.

Sava's eyes lit up and a few quiet chuckles slipped out of her mouth, but she didn't say anything either in surprise or joy or desperation. She simply smiled and squirmed a bit. After a moment of this, decided to surprise with a few seconds of spider-wiggling before going back to stroking. She jumped and squealed (yes, like a pig), but again, she didn't say a word. Her face was getting flushed, though, and considering it obviously wasn't from such little tickling, I could tell this was arousing her greatly.

_…How frustrating. Why must they always…? No, I shouldn't think like that right now. She's _supposed_ to be turned on by this. Ignore the Rage and focus on lust._

With these thoughts in my mind, I started to spiral my fingers inward toward Sava's navel. "Want to know a secret?" I asked her with a sly smirk on my face. "I didn't sensitize every part of your body equally. I decided it would be more interesting if the black patches of your skin were more ticklish than your normal pink skin."

Sava's eyes widened a bit and before she had time to process what I meant by that, my fingers brushed against the black patch around her navel. "SQUEEEEEheeheeheeheehee!" Her initial exclamation devolved into more giggling as I danced around her button. "EEE, thaha's nahahahaw nihihihihice!" Ah, she finally spoke.

I would have liked to go all out right now, but a promise is a promise—breaking it would make it a lie—so I went back to soft strokes outside the black patch to let her cool down a bit. "Aw, yes it is," I said, pretending to sound upset. "I could be much, much meaner if I wanted to be." I accented my words by lifting my left hand to stroke the side of her right breast.

Sava closed her eyes and moaned through her giggles. She seemed so vulnerable in that moment, I could not resist the temptation to bend down plant a quick, light kiss on her lips. Her eyes glazed over, and as I pulled away, she licked her lips with a moan. "Oooh, tha's sum gud staff! …'ow long 'til we gets ta have sex?"

A fair question. If I had more of a choice in the matter, not for a good long while. But… "I'll allow you to decide that, at least this time. This is your reward, after all; it's only fair. Personally I'd prefer to warn you a bit more first, but if you'd prefer…"

"Nah, Chief," Sava said in response. "Ah don' mind a bi' moar. But ah canna' wait too mush longer."

With a nod, I lifted my finger and said, "One moment then." I walked over to my desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a pink feather. "This one, I think," I mumbled, and then moved back to my original position. "If you don't mind a little bit more, then there is one spot that simply _must_ have a touch up before we start." And with that, I passed the feather along the lips of her vulva.

The pig's giggles and moaned mixed together and increased in intensity as the feather danced along just the outer shell of her special spot. "Ah, ah, yes, ahaha, yes, tha's good!" I kept this up for about a minute and then reached down and opened her slit. With that, my feather found it's new target: her clitoris. Now, I had a personal policy concerning the clit: I didn't want my wives to be able to cum from tickling this spot, no matter how arousing it was. Just because I was being kinder than usual today didn't change that, so it was no surprise when Sava said, "Oookay, HAhahaha, Ah'm reheheady! Please, Chief! SQUEEEooooh, please, pu' it in!" after just a few seconds.

I couldn't help sighing that it was ending so quickly, but it was better this way. I was already going to overdose on sex today; better to hold back now so as not to exhaust myself and fully lose control of my emotional state. So I removed my pants, revealed my erect penis, and slowly pushed it into her. Her hymen broke and some blood came out, but when I asked, she assured me she was in no pain. Of course she wasn't: I had numbed her to such things when I cast "Sensitize" on her. Pain was, after all, just a nuisance that served no purpose for me. _Still though,_ I had to wonder, _where did these orcs come from that they're all virgins? Most mamono would at least have tested out a few prospective husbands before marrying._

But no, those thoughts were just idle curiosities—a distraction. The only thing that mattered right now was pulling my dick out and pushing it back in, again and again. I positioned directly on top of Sava on the bed, so I grabbed her left breast and simultaneously jiggled and tickled it while using it to maintain my balance. The orc, in turn, let out a loud guffaw as my fingers traced the black spot on the side of her breast, and I took advantage of her open mouth to plant a long kiss on her lips.

There's nothing quite like a laughter-filled kiss: in that moment, it feels as though the mamono is feeding me with her laughter rather than me feeding her with my saliva. The experience sent a thrill through my body, and I pumped faster, faster, faster until I finally reached my climax.

I yanked my mouth away from Sava's and collapsed on top of her, feeling her slightly bloated body breathing heavily. "So… sweet…" was all she said for what felt like a while. I would've been happy to stay like that longer, but I had several other women to attend to, and even ignoring that, Sava had earned more than just one round's worth of reward. And besides, post-orgasm contentedness was a dangerously addictive emotion, and I didn't want to linger in it.

After peeling myself off Sava, I drank some Purify/Rage to guard against incubization and started preparing myself for the next round. But while I was doing that, Sava slowly looked up and said, "Ahmm, Chief Cormen?" It was the first time she'd addressed me by name—maybe because we were officially married now?—and it caught my attention. "Ahmmm… nextime, mebee… mebee ya' could be a li'l moar harsh, if ya' wan'. Ya' know, tickle a li'l harder."

"…" After a moment, I smiled, turned around and said, "Excellent, then let us begin again."

* * *

Aside from Sava, only three of the ten lesser orcs (Silve, Milnora, and Swedilishin) desired sex with me as a reward. Four more selected husbands for themselves among the prisoners and another three asked for more time to make up their minds. After all that, I was somewhere between being used to the orcs and their busty bodies and being sick of them. So it was more than a little bit of a relief when Ava's turn came.

With my arms crossed I gave her a look which I hoped appeared stern—not angry, but close. The pink-feathered harpy had her wings wrapped around her chest, and her knees shook, but she still met my gaze with a half-smile on her face. She wasn't simply nervous, she was terrified. And yet… I was beginning to suspect that wasn't a problem. I had been thinking on this for some time, and I realized there can be a strong connection between fear and arousal for a mamono because fear feeds adrenaline. Yes, that was likely the reason she stayed with me even now: not in spite of her fear but because of it—because of the emotional high it gave her. So I made up my mind not to treat her too kindly. Of course I didn't want to scare her away completely, but if she wanted to be afraid, then far be it from me not to play the role of the "bad boy" for her.

After standing like that long enough for it to feel awkward, I said, "Well then, do you know what will happen now, harpy?"

Ava jumped a bit at being spoken to so coldly and stuttered out, "Uh, w-w-well, we w-were g-g-g-going to have sex, r-right?"

I nodded and then shook my head. "Yes, but do you know what comes first? Has anyone told you my ways?"

The harpy slowly nodded her head in response. "Y-y-you tickle your wives. …I-i-it won't h-hurt, will it?"

Rolling up my sleeve, I replied, "The tickling? No. But this spell might cause you some pain if you try to avoid or fight against it, so I recommend you stand still." And without giving her an opportunity to let my words sink in, I thrust out my palm and declared, "CHAIN BIND!"

I approached Ava differently than I had the others; the chains didn't restrain her to the bed or desk or even bind her arms at all. I simply had it clamp onto the ankles of her talons and anchor her to the ground. She shrieked a bit in surprise, but otherwise held still.

"Now then," I said as I rolled my sleeve down and approached her, "remove your clothes for me." Ava nodded and complied, taking off both her bra and skirt. When I saw the feathers covering her chest and groin shivering—preparing to recede—I raised a hand to stop her. "No, not yet, leave your feathers as they are for now." The orange-haired girl looked puzzled but obediently stopped her magic from revealing her privates.

I then rolled up my other sleeve. "For the record, if you want to back out… it's too late for that now. SENSITIZE!"

Ava suddenly jolted at the same time her body glowed in response to my spell. "! … Hee… Teehee…" Slowly she started to squirm around, rubbing her legs together and doubling over. "Teeheehee, teehee, teehee, DAHAHA, WAHA, WHAT'S, TEEHEEHEE, WHAT'S GOING ON?! TEEHEE, TEEHEEHEE!"

"Just as I suspected," I said with a maliciously lustful smile; "I can make your body ticklish enough for your own feathers to tickle you. How amusing: I don't even have to do anything at this point."

It was just as I said; the feathers on Ava's wings, breasts and nether regions fluffed and tickled her skin every time she fidgeted, and the more she tried to move out of the way, the more she shook her feathers, tickling herself even more. It was a downward spiral which only worsened as a result of the fact that she kept trying to cover herself with her wings, or to put it another way, the more she tried to protect herself, the more she accidently stroked her feathers all over her body.

"TEEHEE, TOO MUCH, AH, AHAHA, I CAN'TAHAHA CUHUHUM!" Yes, the poor girl must have been incredibly horny with all those feather stroking her pussy, but as I said before, it was against my policy to allow anyone to orgasm from tickling alone. So she struggled and twisted in place, shifting between trying to protect herself, trying to masturbate and trying to fly away, which she couldn't do because her ankles were chained to the ground.

After a few minutes, she seemed to realize a few things. First that it tickled less when she moved less and second that she could use her harpy magic to get rid of the feathers that covered her chest and groin. When she had managed to stop moving, her nipples and vulva were on full display and her wings were hanging off to the side as though she'd been crucified. She still tittered a bit here and there but was managing to hold her laughter in for the most part. Her face was flushed and the look upon it was one of desperate arousal—her eyes upturned and her mouth twisted into an abnormal shape.

Smiling in my desk chair with a hand on my chin, I said, "Now then, I think it is time for sex."

Ava's eyes widened for a moment, and I stood up and approached her, she responded, "W-w-wait! I-i-if we hahahave s-sex right now, I-I-I'll-" She cut herself off when she saw me drop my pants to the ground and reveal my genitalia.

"Oh? Would you rather _not_ have sex?" I had intentionally put her in a conundrum. There was no way she could avoid tickling herself while she was pumping, but at the same time, she wanted my semen. There was no question what she would choose to do, but I didn't give her the time to make that decision in the first place. "It doesn't matter. Because _I_ want to have sex, and I'm the one in charge."

With that, I walked over to her, and while I planted a kiss on her lips, I also lightly but frighteningly placed a hand around her neck. She stood as still as possible while my tongue invaded her mouth and felt around, accepting the saliva offered to her rather than push her own tongue in and take it. When I pulled away, I moved over to her ear and whispered, "Tell me… does the fact that I could kill you if I wanted to excite you? I think it does. I think you _enjoy_ being afraid of me." I reached my other hand down to stroke her pussy. "That's why you're so wet right now, isn't it?"

The stimulus was too much for her to hold still anymore. She started wiggling and giggling as she responded. "Teehee, noho… AHaha, yes? Eeheehee, I-I don't knohow. Eehee, teeheehee, I-I-I wahahant to beheelieve you won't-AH-won't hurt m-me."

"And I don't want to," I admitted gently, pulling my left hand away from her neck. "But you like the fact that I could. You find it… exhilarating. So, I'll let you decide: do you want me to keep being cold to you, or would you rather I treat you a little more gently?"

The harpy tittered for a moment as she subconsciously started rubbing herself against my palm. "I-I-I don't knohow," she admitted. "D-d-do it-AH-do it h-h-however you w-want."

"Very well, but you may regret that choice." Without any further fanfare, I stuck my member into her hole and wrapped my arms around her. She let out quite a cry of surprise at the sudden invasion but then devolved into laughter as I stuck my hands into her armpits and started tickling. Of course, unlike the other girls, she still had enough freedom of movement to pull her arms down, but that did nothing to remove my hands from her armpits.

Now, I wasn't moving my waist at all, but I didn't need to. Ava started to bounce up and down in my arms, sporadically moving her hips all around. I held her too close for her to slip off my penis, but the leeway she had, she used for her dance. Her laughter and moaning mingled more and more, and pretty soon, she wrapped her wings around me and started to focus on struggling forward and backward rather than side-to-side. "THIHIHIS FEEHEEHEEHEELS SO GOOHOOHOOD!" she said, and I couldn't disagree. Her body, skin and feathers both, were so soft, her armpits so delectably squishy and her erect nipples vibrated against my chest as she laughed. And need I mention the sex was good too?

It took some time for us to reach climax under those circumstances; unfortunately since I was holding still to ensure she couldn't pull away, only her erratic pumping pushed my dick in and out, and that was rather inefficient. But when we did come… by the gods, it was wonderful. I might have gained a new favorite wife! …No, Spring's was definitely still on top, but at least I'd discovered a new way to enjoy sex.

Ava huffed and collapsed to the ground when I pulled away and undid the restraints. After a moment or two she said, "Wow. That… was hellishly good." _Interesting,_ I thought in turn, _she didn't stutter that time._

* * *

_Gulp._ After swallowing a Purify-Rage mix, I turned my attention back to my next partner. Kal'lra was hanging backwards off the side of my desk, her ankles chained down at the other end, panting heavily. We had just finished our first round of reward, but she earned more than just that. For that matter, she probably deserved more attention than any of my other wives so far, and I had to at least attempt to be fair if I was going to remain in charge. So I turned my gaze back upon her and asked, "Out of curiosity, do you have any requests for the next round?"

She rolled up her eyes in thought for a moment and looked up at me and asked, "Could ya not tickle me under the boobs this time?"

"No; veto." If there was aspect of sex with Kal'lra I refused to budge on, it was tormenting the undersides of her breasts; if she was going to have a chest that huge, I should enjoy it somehow and this really was the best way. After all, the whole reason I had her hanging upside-down like this was to expose that region for easy access. She knew it too, and I doubt she was seriously expecting me to comply with her request, nor I think did she really mind having her breasts fondled, regardless of how much it tickled. "Any other requests?"

After another moment, Kal'lra asked, "Umm,… could you tease my nipples a bit this time."

I was taken aback that that hadn't already occurred to me. "That, I'll allow. Now then, brace yourself because I'm beginning again. CHAIN BIND!" The pig-girl's wrists, which I had released during sex, were now rechained to the ground above her head.

I bent down to Kal'lra's eye level and wiggled my fingers in front of her face wearing an evil grin. The words, "Oh, no," slipped out of her mouth along with a couple giggles, and she reflectively tried to move away, but tied about as taught as possible and could barely wiggle enough to jiggle her boobs. Even so, she was smiling genuinely, ever eager to please and be pleased according to my whim. At another time, I might've been frustrated by her enjoying this so much, but even with all the Rage and Purify I was drinking, my mamono mana and lust levels were increasing quite a bit today, and it was hard to be angry about anything. In fact, just the opposite, I was happy that she was happy.

I held that pose for several moments, then teased her bit by shooting my hands into her underarms briefly, making her squeal in surprise before pulling back to taunt her some more. "Aha, ha, you're so cruel, master," she said still smiling.

"Oh, that's not cruel," I said with mock indignity. "_This_ is cruel." And with that, I rolled up my sleeve and gestured straight at her chest. "SENSITIZE!"

"Oh no," Kal'lra said with a chuckle and some much more urgent shaking. "That's not fair! Please, no!"

"Be silent and laugh!" I commanded just before plunging my hands right onto her sweet spot and spidering my fingers all over them. As Kal'lra fell into shrieks of laughter, I realized to my own annoyance that I had given a contradictory order: you can't be silent _and_ laugh. So much for my attempt to sound impressive and dominant; it probably came across as a joke. Oh well; as long as she thought it was on purpose, I wouldn't be embarrassed at least.

It may also have been due to my above average lust levels, but I was really getting a taste for Kal'lra's breasts. I stroked, spiraled, squeezed and whatever else I could think to do the flesh mounds and the orc laughed herself to tears. And when I decided to fulfill her request, took turns reaching one hand down to twirl, flick and tease the nipple of one breast while my other hand continued torturing the underside of the other.

I noticed partway through that some of her laughs sounded strange, and when I looked down, I realized my cock and balls were not too far from her face. The pig wanted my semen so badly she was bending her neck and sticking her tongue out trying to lick my member. "Oh, no, no, no," I said, standing up and rolling up my sleeve again. "Naughty, naughty, I have no desire to have a mouth on my privates: that's disgusting and deserves punishment. SENSITIZE!"

This time I targeted her clit specifically and poor as much magic into the spell as I could. Kal'lra was in trouble now, and I'd say she knew it judging from the way she said, "No, wait, not the denial! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, just please not that!"

I ignored her and reached around to pull two tiny, tiny paintbrushes out of my desk. I taunted Kal'lra by waving them in front of her face before slowly moving them over to her clit and setting the bristles down on it.

"SQEEEEEEEEEHAHAHAHAHAHA-OH, OH, OHOHOHAHAHAHA, AH, AH, AHHHHAHAHAHA!"

Kal'lra couldn't beg between laughing and moaning as I tortured her most private place. I kept that up for several minutes If there was a way to get my Rage potion working again, it was trying to put something slick and slimy on me (other than a vagina on my dick); I wanted to make sure she was never brazen enough to try that again. Besides, there were few things in this world more enjoyable than preventing a mamono's ability to orgasm. In that moment, I had total power over the mamono and not the other way around.

But of course, I couldn't keep that up forever. I had promised to give her sex, after all, so eventually I stopped and removed the chains from her wrists. I then got up on the desk and declared, "I'm coming down; catch me."

Kal'lra huffed and puffed as she pulled herself up with her hips, legs, abs and every other muscle in her body so that she was hanging horizontally off the side of the desk from the waist up. I laid down on top of her, trusting in her strength to hold both of us up, and pushed my penis into her hole. She moaned so loud and shook so much I almost thought she was going to collapse and drop us both, But then she reached up to grab my waste, and with the two of us braced against each other, I once again pushed in and out, in and out. The motion was becoming so familiar to me it was scary seeing as I had little prior experience.

The orc struggled with every fiber in her body just to move, but even so, she came at me with everything she had, and soon our juices spilled out once again. I entrusted myself to Kal'lra, who gently lowered me to the floor before collapsing once again into an undefended, arms-over-the head posture off the side of the desk. We stayed there for a moment before I struggled to right myself and reach for another draft of Invigorate. The real hard part was yet to come, so I planned to enjoy my time with Kal'lra to the fullest before it ended.

* * *

An adorable face with green, triangular animal-ears leaned over me grinning wickedly. "So, Corman, any last words?"

"Kill me now." By this point, my penis seemed to be constantly erect, but even so, I most certainly was not looking forward to being the one bound and at Tinkler's mercy. A deal's a deal, of course, and if I didn't uphold my end of the bargain, Tinkler wouldn't work for me in the future. Still, with the benefit of hindsight, I was beginning to think I hadn't heckled with her nearly enough over the details. How was I going to survive the next six hours, especially without my Rage and Purify potions?

The gremlin started messing with some levers and knobs on a small device and her throne responded. I was already on the throne and restrained by four of its mechanical appendages, but as with the others I was wearing all my clothes to start, so it came as no surprise when the next words out of Tinkler's mouth were, "Let's get this annoying fabric out of the way."

Maneuvering her tentacles carefully, Tinkler began by stripping off my shirt. A look of surprise and interest came over her face when she saw the arcane ritual tattooed all over my chest, as well as the two on my arms. "You had another one more of these things up your sleeve… or shirt, I guess?"

I shrugged (or tried to), and replied, "Yes, what about it?"

"Why hasn't anyone mentioned it?" the loli demon pressed. "Have you been hiding it from us?"

I had to think for a moment. Not because I didn't know the answer, but because I wanted to keep her talking as much as possible so as to run out more of the clock. "…I wasn't hiding my third spell from you per se. This is… the spell I'm going to use to save Regina's life."

"Oh."

A serious air fell over the tent as we cast our thoughts out to the dog currently being cared for by the orcs outside the tent. "I would use it now," I added, "but unfortunately, it requires several ritual items I don't currently possess, and as if that wasn't enough, the ritual can only be performed in a specific location in Zipangu. So I didn't see any need to bring it up yet."

Tinkler nodded her head in understanding and then twisted her eyebrows in confusion again. "But you've had sex with a lot of wives. You never took your shirt off once during all that? Are you _sure_ you weren't hiding this intentionally?"

My response was slow and hesitant with to a slightly dramatic degree to keep her interested in the conversation. "As I said… I wasn't hiding the tattoos _per se_. But I _was_ hiding my _chest_."

"Why?" I looked away, pretending that I was too embarrassed to answer. I actually _was_ embarrassed, but mainly I just wanted to make her waste time figuring it out. After a moment, her eyes lit up and she started mumbling. "Wait a minute. Super hairy arms… super hairy legs… super hairy balls… Oh. OHHH, I GET IT! Ahahahaha!"

Yes my arms, legs and groin were all hairy enough to make me look like a bear. But anyone who saw my chest would find it comparatively lacking. There was still a respectable amount of hair on my midriff, but it was slightly below average whereas the rest of my body was far above the average.

I felt the heat rush to my cheeks and gritted my teeth. "Yes, yes, laugh it up. I know it looks silly."

"No, no, not at all," Tinkler rushed to reassure me. "I just thought it was funny you thought you needed to hide it. I mean, I really don't care; your abs look really sexy to me. I'd bet my throne the others will agree." I tried not to let the compliment influence me. Of course my _wives_ would like it, but my roommates in the years leading up to adulthood had let me know just how weird it looked. "Still, though, these markings are really something else. They don't match any runes I've ever seen before. Where did-" Tinkler suddenly slapped herself and said, "No, no, wait, what am I doing? That doesn't matter right now. Focus! It's sexy time!" Dang it. My distraction wore off.

Her curiosity sated for the time being, the girl in the yellow-polka dot bikini and lab coat quickly removed the rest of my clothing and stared sparkly-eyed at my genitalia. "Oh wow, it looks so big and juicy! Hehe, no getting away from me now, this thing's going in my mouth."

"Oh, hell no!" I instinctively pulled away in disgust, but there was nowhere to go.

_Crap._

"Oh, hell yes," Tinkler said reaching her fingers out to grab my shaft and caress my testicles. "You don't expect me to hold back for your sake, do you? Because I don't remember you stopping when I asked back when you _forced me to marry you_."

…Damn. It would seem she was still angry about that even now that she was in love with me. Even as I sucked in air, struggling to maintain my composure as she fondled my privates, my emotions were veering deeper and deeper into panic.

Tinkler pulled away, her eyes alight, and declared, "Let's fire this baby up! First, the aphrodisiacs and cum secretion amplifiers!" Several tentacles gathered around my dick and spray different gasses on it, while two more did the same starting at the top of my body and going down, making sure to pause above my nipples for a few moments before proceeding.

I could feel something happening deep in my mind and body. My skin was flushed with heat and wanted, needed, _craved_, to release the buildup of tension in my penis. But of course, I couldn't do it myself because my hands were bound.

_Crap. Crap. Crap._

"And next, let's try out the experimental-new-magical-ray-gun-like-device-that-I-haven't-named-yet. Don't worry, even if this doesn't work, it probably won't kill you." She pressed another button and I heard a clicking sound as one of the tentacles stopped spraying gas on me and fired a beam of green light at me instead. After a moment, the light faded, and Tinkler eagerly asked, "Well, how's that? Did it work? Do you feel any different?"

Oh, I could feel a difference all right. "I-I-I fee-ee-eel li-i-ike the-e-e who-o-ole roo-oo-oom-m-m i-i-is sha-a-akking-g-g."

The gremlin's eyebrows shot up. "Huh? What do you mean?" She reached out a hand to touch the tip of my penis and then pulled back with a start. "You're vibrating. You're vibrating?! That wasn't supposed to happen! It was supposed to-uh… Ah, dang it, what a buzzkill. …Although… this does sound like fun in a different way…"  
_  
Oh, gods, hurry up and fuck me already._ The thought surprised me, but the aphrodisiacs alone had made me desperate and her occasional tapping wasn't helping.

Suddenly, Tinkler screamed and she practically started drooling. "Wait a minute! You've got a vibrating dick? You've got a vibrating dick!" She literally bounced up and down with excitement and ripped off her own clothes. "Sucking can come later; I simply have to know what it feels like to fuck a vibrating dick before the effects wear off." _Yes, please, hurry,_ I caught myself thinking in response.

With her device still in hand, she commanded several of her tentacles to lift her up and set her down on top of me. She then wrapped her vagina around my penis and stuffed it inside up to her womb. We both moaned loudly at the same time. "Holy fuck! This is a miracle of pseudo-science!" I couldn't disagree with her; while my dick was vibrating inside her vagina, from my perspective, it felt as though the walls of her vagina were vibrating against my dick.

I don't think I ever came faster in my life, and as if on cue, I stopped shaking immediately after that. A look of ecstasy came over Tinkler's face followed by one of amazement. "Ohhhh, that tastes… different?! Hey! Your semen tastes different from last time! It's… how do I put this… it's more like a… like an apple than a raspberry this time."

I had no idea what she was talking about and I didn't really care. Despite having just came, my dick was still fully erect and felt as though it might explode at any moment. Hold on, those "cum secretion amplifiers" she mentioned earlier, they wouldn't happen to have a similar effect on men as an Invigorate potion, would they?

_…Crap. Crap. Crap. Damn. Crap. Fuuuuck!_

It was against my policy to swear out loud, but I was getting close, especially when Tinkler peeled herself off of me and said, "Oh, now I really need to know how it tastes in my mouth. Here I come!"

* * *

Six hours later, when neither I nor Tinkler emerged, my tent flap opened and Kal'lra peered inside along with all my other wives. And Grava, too. "Um, Chief? Are you o-o-o-woah!" The orc started to ask, indirectly, whether Tinkler was abusing her privileges and going into overtime but cut herself off when she saw us.

Tinkler was curled up like a cat, contentedly sleeping on the ground stark naked beneath the throne. I, on the other hand, was still wide awake and still being fucked by the machine. After the gremlin had filled herself to bursting with my semen, she decided it would be a shame to just waste the rest of her time, so before she collapsed, she hooked up a device to my penis to catch my secretions in a glass and then left the device to "milk" me, as she put it.

My tongue was hanging out of my open mouth as I experienced a massaging of my lotioned-up abs, chest and nipples, a constant pumping on my dick, several aphrodisiac gasses constantly spraying on me, and yes, a vibrating tentacle being shoved in and out of my ass. Honestly, I'd lost all awareness of my surroundings at this point and was constantly trying to find relief.

I finally came too after the other ladies woke up Tinkler and made the groggy gremlin turn off the machine. …Though, even then, I needed to release the pent up stress from the aphrodisiacs before all was said and done. I gave that one to the orc named Eledor, who had apparently just made up her mind that she _did_ still want to marry me.

Afterwards, I could feel them all touching me and asking if I was all right. "I'm… I'm… wonderful." I answered, much too high on lust and pleasure to feel any differently about the situation.

Yes. Everything was wonderful. My life was wonderful, my wives were wonderful, my body felt wonderful. My vision was starting to turn a slightly hazy shade of purple, but so what? What was wrong with being incubized and enjoying this pleasure all the time?

"You're so… disappointing." I vaguely heard someone say that, but I couldn't tell who and couldn't understand why. Not at the time, anyway.

* * *

"DAMN IT!"

The next morning, I performed my usual routine of getting out of my bed, going over to my desk, and drinking a Rage-Purify concoction. It was purely out of habit, and not at all the result of wanting to maintain my humanity. But as the fog in my mind slowly started to clear up, I remembered there was a reason I couldn't let myself give in to pleasure—a reason I must not become an incubus. So I drank a bit more. And a bit more. And then I overdosed.

I was fortunate that Kal'lra and the orcs were so obedient; despite what their instincts must've told them to do, no one had slept with me in the tent, and even Regina was still being cared for outside. If not for that, someone would've seen me smashing empty vials formerly filled with potion into the ground as I ranted against myself.

That was too close. That was far too close. I had underestimated how much mamono mana I was absorbing and failed to drink enough Purify to counteract it. As a result, it had been building up inside me these past few weeks and our little "day off" had almost pushed me over the edge. A little bit more and I might not have been saved even by force of habit.

Holding up a small mirror to my face, I looked again and was frustrated to see that my eyes had changed color again, ever so slightly. When I was a child, they were green. After an incident on the training field, they'd turned dark brown. Now, they were a noticeably lighter shade of brown.

"Damn it!" I said once again, this time managing to put the mirror down gently before venting my frustration by kicking my chair. I needed to re-evaluate my potion dosages in the future and adjust as needed for each new wife I added to my harem. In particular, I would need to take much greater care before making deals with Tinkler again; six hours was a long time, and 18 would be longer still. Failure in this regard would lead to slothfulness—to spending my days absorbed in sex and giving up on saving Regina and obtaining revenge. That must never happen.

Releasing a deep breath, I twisted my mouth into a grin and turned my gaze upon my trunk. After grabbing my sword, I walked over to the trunk and lifted the lid. The angel inside stared at the blade, crying profusely. But I had no intention of using it to harm her. Instead, I simply pointed it at her and said, "**RELEASE SILENCE!**"

The gemstone on my sword's hilt glowed momentarily, and the gagging enchantment I'd placed on the angel faded. Finding that she could hear the sound of her own breathing for the first time in weeks, the angel proceeded to beg. "Please, please, Hero Cormiander, just let me go. I promise I'll ask the Chief Deity to have mercy on you. Just-"

"I am not interested in the Chief God's mercy," I interrupted, blatantly refusing to use the "cooler" modern title many used to refer to the head of the pantheon these days. "Nor will I let you go. Ever. You are my possession from this day onward, and if you don't wish to die, it would be wise of you to do as I ask."

The angel hiccupped and sobbed and said, "Please… I can't defy my deity… It's physically impossible."

I struck the top of my trunk with the flat of my blade to make a loud, resonating clang! "No, that is a lie. It is possible under the right conditions. So now, I'm going to ask you a few questions, and you would be wise to answer truthfully." Bending down and peering into her face, I continued, "There are only three questions for now. First, what are you? Second, what is the mission you've been granted? And third, by what means are you to accomplish your mission?"

As I watched the angel's face take on a hint of confusion at these question which should've had obvious answers, I hardened my resolve even further. Yes. I _would_ have my revenge, even if I had to fight my own instincts every step of the way. And this… this would be the next big step on that journey. First, I would control this angel. And then, in time, I would control power beyond anything any human had ever possessed.

* * *

**"Oh, deary, now don't cry. Shhh."**

**"But… but how long w-w-will I have to w-wait b-before Dad l-let's me come home?"**

**"Oh, it won't be too long, I think. You're father's just a bit confused right now. He'll find you here eventually, and then he'll cry and say he's sorry, and you can back home and be happy."**

**"Here you go dear. Have some milk; it'll help you feel better."**

**"O-okay. *sniff* Th-thank you for t-taking care of me."**

**"Nah, it's no trouble at all. You're free to stay with us as long as need to."**

**"Don't worry; everything will be just fine, this here holstaur will promise you that."**

**Scene change.**

**Fire.**

**Death.**

**Slime.**


	7. Chapter 5: Werewolf (?)

**Chapter 5: Werewolf (?)**

_When I first met him… I don't remember. It was the day I was born._

* * *

This world's sense of morality was changing dramatically. Once it was considered unthinkable for anyone to have sex with a child: now it was becoming commonplace. The reason is because monster girls had far fewer morals than humans. The mamono were hardy, fully compatible with any man, and both wanted and were capable of enjoying sex from birth. As if that wasn't enough, mamono weren't driven by "morals" so much as "instincts," and those instincts told them that there was one good that took precedence over any other conventional morality: love (which, for them, was the same as lust).

Do you love multiple women? That's fine. Do you love a little girl? That's fine. Do you love your own uncle or aunt or cousin or mother or father or sister or brother or even your grandma or grandpa? That's fine too. In a world ruled by Succubi, there were practically no restrictions on sexual morality.

But there were still a few things mamono were expected to abide by—certain "evils" that went against a mamono's instincts. Mamono never married more than one man or cheated on their husbands. Mamono never had sex with underage boys—they wouldn't be able to extract semen from them anyway. They viewed homosexual relations between men as evil, unnatural, something to be replaced with a healthy lust for women—a man's semen existed to be consumed by his wife or wives. With that one exception, no mamono would ever stand in the way of "true love," even if it meant accepting a rival into a polygamy. Mamono never resorted to bloody violence except as a last resort for their husbands' sakes. Mamono never remarried or even lived on past the deaths of their husbands.

When I was 8 years old, reading the _Monster Girl Encyclopedia I_ my father had given me, I believed the book when it said that all mamono followed these rules because they were ingrained deep within them by the Mamono Lord, and I believed the book when it said that no mamono would ever do anything that broke one of these rules.

The book was wrong.

* * *

Kal'lra, Sava, Spring, Tinkler and Ava stood before me, mostly at attention save for the incorrigible gremlin. "What's up, hairless chest? You got another job for us?"

The Ratatoskr poked the gremlin in the side, earning a squeak from the green-eared loli in the hovering mechanical chair. "Don't tease him like that! You know he doesn't like it."

"I'll do as I please," Tinkler countered, using her throne's tentacles to snatch up the white-pawed chipmunk by the wrists while she started tickling her armpits. "I'm not a pet like you lot. I'm a wife of equal standing."

"When you're quite finished," I said through gritted teeth, "I do have a few things to discuss with you." Reluctantly, with me, two pink-and-black orcs and a harpy staring her down, the little scientist in the bikini and lab coat released Spring and crossed one of her not-really-bare feet over the other. With a nod, I continued. "First off, I realize there's no point bothering to deny this anymore, so I'm just going to say it out loud: yes, I do plan to have more wives of other races in the future."

Sava looked down for a moment and mumbled, "Ah thaw so."

"Master," Kal'lra added, "why do you want even more wives? Are we not enough for you?"

"Honestly, no, you're not." The orc with the x-shaped patch of black skin over her right eye seemed taken aback that I had answered so bluntly in the negative. Did she think I would spare her and her sister's feelings if she appealed to my conscience? If so, she thought incorrectly. I was becoming more and more aware with each passing day where the line I should not cross with the orcs was, and this would not cross it. Not so long as I reminded them of their place. "I do not mean that in the sense that you cannot satisfy me all on your own sexually, of course. But I need more aid for my goals to realized. There are things that other mamono specialize in that no one in this room can offer me. So no, you are not enough: you are necessary, and I value you all, but more is required. Which leads me to the first order of business."

Picking up the _Monster Girl Encyclopedia_ off my desk, I put on my reading glasses, turned to a specific page and showed it to them. "This monster, I need. There are many races I'd like to have and far more I wouldn't, but this one in particular (or its sister race) is absolutely necessary before I can proceed to phase three of my plan." The monster pictured in the book I was showing them was a Mimic, a chest demon.

While Kal'lra and Sava pouted, Spring and Tinkler raised their voices in curiosity. "A Mimic? What could you do with one of those?"

"Yeah, all they do is drag men into their little pocket dimensions and keep them there. They almost never even come out of their chests."

I couldn't help smiling. Truly, my intellect was superior if they couldn't understand the full value of a Mimic's power at a glance. "Mimics," I said slowly, educationally, "are, as you said, a race that create their own pocket dimensions outside the laws of time and space. …Just one of them would make the perfect storage compartment for all of our equipment… and our prisoners. In particular, I plan to have a few… especially troublesome and difficult to transport prisoners in the future. A Mimic is the key to containing them, as well as lightening the load so that we can travel more quickly and leave the Order far behind us."

"Oh," Sava suddenly said with a start. "So watcha mean is, if we gets a Minic, i'll 'elp th' tribe 'scape from 'ere alive! We cud ditch all th' carts an' travul ligh'er." I hesitated for just a moment before nodding in agreement. She wasn't wrong, that was certainly one of the reasons I wanted a Mimic. Not the main one, but I didn't see any reason to say that; let the orcs continue to believe I had their best interests at heart and they'd cooperate more readily.

Ava raised a pink wing in the air politely before asking a question. "Um, I have a question. How are you going to find a Mimic?" For the record, the harpy was no longer scared of me all the time, and as a result she no longer stuttered as much as she used to. She was still cautious and polite around me, but I'd heard from Kal'lra that she'd started to integrate into the tribe well, conversing and having fun with the other orcs any time she wasn't running errands or indirectly asking for sex.

In any event, I lifted a finger in response to Ava's question and emphatically yanked off my glasses and slammed them down on the desk with my book. "Yes, exactly, that is the question! How _will_ I find a Mimic? They're not exactly the most outgoing, easy-to-find race in existence, now are they?"

"Oh, oh, I can help!" Spring yelled, waving around her tail and one of her hands emphatically. "I'll use my contacts to look for local sightings wherever we go until we find one."

"Us too," Kal'lra threw in, doing a complete 180 from her jealousy a moment ago. "If you need a Mimic, we'll get you one. We'll look everywhere!"

"That is more or less the idea," I concurred. "However, we need not look _everywhere_. Mimics only appear where treasure chests are likely to appear, so we should focus our searches on any towns or ruins we pass through." I pointed to Ava and added, "Unless of course you happen across one during one of your supply runs; in that case, inform me immediately and we will go to fetch it, even if it takes us a bit out of our way. Also, don't limit your search to just Mimics; a Jinn of the Jar would work just as well, if not better." Here I lifted up the MGE and turned to another page to show an example of a Jinn of the Jar.

With a frown on her face, Tinkler crossed her arms. "And where do I fit into this? How am I supposed to help, and what do I get for it?"

"Well," I said with a shrug of my shoulders, "I was hoping you might me able to create some sort of contraption to detect a Mimic's mamono mana. Was I wrong?"

But the frown on the gremlin's face deepened. "You're… not wrong, but… it probably wouldn't help. Any scanner I invent wouldn't be able to pick up on Mimics hiding in their pocket dimensions. And if I tried scanning for the pocket dimensions instead, all I'd manage to confirm is that this whole world has been distorted beyond recognition. With all the Gates and the Demon Realm transformations and all, there's… too much white noise for me to pick up on any specific spacial disturbances."

_Well, that's unfortunate._ I didn't understand everything she said, of course, but I knew that if Tinkler said it was impossible, it probably really_ was _impossible. "All right, I understand. In any event, I would still like your help… ah, _persuading_ her to join us when we find one."

"You mean torturing her 'til she marries you," the gremlin said, scrunching up her toes and looking away with her mouth pulled taut.

"Huh?" Both Ava's and Sava's head snapped around to look at the mad scientist. "What? Torture? He wouldn't, would he?"

With a nervous chuckle, Spring stuck her hands in her armpits and nodded. "Oh yes he would. He can be… _extremely_ persuasive when he wants a new wife." Then, throwing up her hands and waving them reassuringly, she added, "Ah! But don't worry, he won't hurt her or anything. It just… tickles a lot."

Sava, Ava and also Kal'lra all let out sighs of relief. Honestly, even you Kal'lra? What did you think I did to those two to make them marry me? "And to answer your question," I responded to the gremlin, "yes, I would like your help with that. And not only for the Mimic, there's also _her_ to consider."

I gestured over to my trunk, then quickly walked over and opened it. Sava let out a shriek of surprise when she saw the angel in the sleeveless green dress inside. The angel in question wasn't gagged anymore, but it refused to make eye-contact with any of us and wasn't speaking. I suppose she'd decided there was no point in begging for help from the enemies of the Chief God.

Continuing where I left off, I added, "Do you think you could make some… appropriate adjustments to your throne in preparation? If you help me process this angel, I'll give you an hour of sex."

"Make it six hours and you've got a deal."

"_One hour._" Tinkler pulled back in her throne at the intensity of my refusal. "I am not as desperate for your help with this as I was for the soundproofing."

Tinkler bit her lip for a moment, put a hand on her chin, and hummed a bit. "…Two hours, take it or leave it. You're asking me to change my throne for you; this thing is my pride and joy. It has to be at least two hours."

I wonder if the others sensed tension in the air as the gremlin and I, the former Hero, stared each other down for several seconds. "…Fine, two hours. We have a deal. The rest of you as well; after the angel has monsterized, I want your help with this."

"Wait a minute." Spring raised a hand in objection. "You mean she isn't a monster yet? Then why don't we just have sex with her? If we pour our mamono mana into her-"

"_No!_" This time, everyone jumped in surprise as I slammed down the lid of the open trunk to emphasize my rejection. "This angel must not be monsterized artificially. It must happen naturally, as a result of absorbing too much mamono mana from the atmosphere or my plan won't work." Yes, this next step was critical; it was the reason behind the three questions I started asking the angel the other day. When her answer to the third question changed—when she claimed her divine purpose was to reward moral men with pleasure through sex—only then would I know for sure that she was a monster. Raising a finger and gesturing to each of my wives in turn, I added, "Let me be perfectly clear on this: there is to be no sex with that angel, either from me or any of you, now or in the future. It's as I told Kal'lra before: I'm not going to marry her. I have… an alternative plan for her. One which I look forward to showing off. But we can't start with that until I confirm that she's been monsterized, so for now, just be aware of the fact that I'll be calling on you for aid with this soon.

"Well, then, I believe that's everything I wished to discuss with you all tonight. You should all head back to your tents and get some sleep; we've got another long day of travel ahead of us tomorrow."

My wives turned toward the exit one by one, Spring and Tinkler already starting to bicker and mess with each other even before exiting. However, right as she was about to leave, Ava the harpy stopped and turned around. "Actually," she said, "I-I would like to suggest an idea, if I may."

The others were already gone. This could be nothing more than an effort on her part to get me alone for sex. But if so, it was surprisingly bold of her. It roused my curiosity, so I gestured for her to speak. "Um, I was thinking… it would be nice to have scouts to… ah, warn us if the Order was nearby. A-and if there's any species that make good scouts, it would be W-w-w-werewolves."

I crossed my arms and frowned. "Granted, I too have thought that adding Werewolves to our ranks would be useful, but right now I only have one." _And,_ I added silently, _I still have no idea what to make of her. That Grava girl is… very strange._

"B-but, one is all we need," Ava said quickly, waving her wings to draw my thoughtful gaze back to her. "B-because W-w-w-werewolves can infect women and monsterize them with just one bite. If G-g-g-grava were to bite a couple of the female prisoners, they would turn into Werewolves really quickly."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. After a few moments of slightly awkward silence, I slammed my right fist onto my left palm. "Why didn't I think of that?! Yes, that could work out nicely. I would need to be careful about which prisoners are turned, but… Yeah, and I would have to work out the details about how to control them… Still though…" After another moment of mumbling to myself, I realized Ava was still in the tent awaiting praise. "Uh, yes, yes, I thank you; you have done well, Ava. I will definitely speak to Grava—see if she is willing to lend her aid with this. And you—you will be rewarded for this when next we have an opportunity."

With a beaming smile she fluttered her wings and hovered off the ground for a moment. "Eek! Y-yes! Thank you, sir!" Then she literally flew out of the tent.

After she left, though, my mouth twisted into a frown. "Grava… Yeah, I knew I'd have to try speaking to that girl eventually, but…" I shook my head to clear out my doubts. Regardless of how bizarre she was, any difficulties with her could wait until morning; right now, it was time for bed. Walking over to my mattress, I reached down to pet the Shetland Sheepdog already lying down comfortably on top of the sheets. Then I lay down next her, and though I knew she couldn't listen or understand, I spoke kind, reassuring words to her until I drifted off.

* * *

_A few days after the Hero and his wives had their little party, the killer came to me asking for help. He said he wanted more Werewolves to help him escape the Order of the Omniscient. It was annoying. Why was he running away? This guy could stay and fight if he wanted; I'd seen him do it before. Damn it; this was Hero? He was just a coward!_

_When he finally stopped talking, I didn't know what to say. So I didn't say anything._

_"Um, so, should I take your silence as a yes? Or-"_

_"…No."_

_The Corman guy looked surprised. "No? Why not? You do understand that in this tribe, those who desire sex must-"_

_"I don't care. You're not my-" I stopped there. I couldn't say it. Not to this guy. Instead, I said, "You're so… disappointing."_

_Suddenly, I was afraid. If I stayed there, it would all come out. So I turned around and walked away._

_Damn him. Why would I want sex with him? That murderer wasn't the one I loved._

* * *

"Wow, so you noticed it too, huh?"

"Yeah, the first time it was… kinda like a melon, I guess? But the second time, it was more like… like an apple, and then… more like… like a raspberry."

"I see, melon flavor huh? I didn't experience that flavor, but I did get the other two, along with… something more tangy… like an orange!"

In the cart next to where I was riding, Spring and Tinkler were petting Regina and apparently discussing the flavor of my semen and the way it apparently changes from time to time. _Huh, I wonder if this has something to do with why I've always been a mamono magnet,_ I thought, but I was barely interested in the conversation. I had… other things on my mind. Specifically, one thing Grava said to me—"You're so… disappointing,"—rang familiar in my ears. I thought I vaguely remembered hearing someone say that when I was still high on sex three days ago. But… why? What did I do to disappoint her?

The more I thought about it, the less I understood it. What expectations did she have of me? How had I betrayed those expectations? With someone as quiet as she was, it near impossible to figure out anything based only on her words, so I tried thinking about it back from the beginning.

_She became interested in me after I saved her and her Werewolf tribe from the Order… That was odd by itself, wasn't it? We did slaughter the whole lot of those men, after all. After that… she observed me a lot, but always had that blank look on her face and never acted like a Werewolf at all. Ava is scared stiff of her… And now that I think about it, this morning was the first time I ever heard her speak. …She didn't seem interested in working for sex. No, hold on, it's more than that: she didn't seem interested in sex at all. What were her exact words? "You're not my-"? Not her what? Not her husband? Not her love? Is she interested in someone else? But then, why would she be traveling with me?_

My head spun around and around in circles, but I didn't feel like I was making any progress. Something was missing—some important piece of the puzzle was completely slipping my notice. Until I figured out what that was, I suspected I would never understand or command Grava.

"Aha, so that's how it works! The taste changes depending on what species of mamono had sex with him last! …Ah, dang it, that means I'll never get to taste the melon flavor!"

"True, I got him first, so no one else gets to taste his original flavor. But think about this; the more wives he gets, the more flavors we get to taste."

"Oooh! …But wait, how do we know you got him first? Corman's a master at keeping secrets; he may be lying ab-er-I mean, he may be _loopholing_ around the fact that you weren't first."

"He is not! Darling, darling, tell her that I was first!"

Suddenly dragged into the conversation, I hesitated for a moment before admitting the truth. They were going to find out eventually anyway. "No, Spring, you weren't the first person I married."

"What?!"

"My first two wives were a pair of Automatons I found a few years ago in Saharad. I wasn't ready to leave the Order at the time, so I told them to wait there for me to return for them. They're still waiting for me there."

"So the melon flavor was… Nooo…" Spring looked as deflated as a ship's sales on a windless day.

"Ha, ha, looks like you just lost your bragging rights!" Tinkler accented her perceived victory by lifting a bottle of sticky white liquid up to her lips. …I tried to convince myself that it was just holstaur milk, but considering what happened the other night combined with the blissful look on the gremlin's face, I was pretty sure I knew who's "milk" was _really _inside the bottle.

…Perhaps it would be best to send a master of information-gathering to talk to Grava next…

"Spring… if you'd be willing to do me a favor, I'd like to try and make it up to you tonight."

* * *

Later that evening when Spring came to deliver her report, I could sense the gravity of the situation radiating from her. Her eyes were downcast, her hands fidgety, one of her paws scratched at her other leg and both her ears and tail were droopy. Whatever she'd learned had disturbed her greatly.

"Um… well, first off, let me say that Grava doesn't talk much, so I wasn't able to get a lot out of her directly. B-but by piecing together bits of my conversation with her with some things she's told the others and some things her mother said when she introduced Grava to us, I think I've got a good general idea of her past. She, uh…" The information broker trailed off for a few moments before revealing Grava's secret to me.

When she finished, I nodded in understanding. No wonder she was so difficult to figure out; I was approaching this problem all wrong. But now… yes, a new idea was forming in my mind. I thought I knew what to do next, so I smiled at Spring and congratulated her. "Thank you, my furry little dear. This helps me a great deal. Now then, I do believe I promised you a reward for a job well done?"

I rolled up my sleeve, and the Ratatoskr shrieked and clutched herself with a nervous smile. "Eek, wait, wait, could we maybe skip the armpits this time? Please…? No…?"

* * *

_That night, the murderer changed his usual pattern. He didn't have the orcs guard his tent this time. Instead, he had them guard the greedy girl's tent. Did he think she was the only dangerous person? I waited a few more nights to check. Nothing changed._

_My hunter's instincts told me it was time. I snuck into Corman's tent one night and found him asleep in his bed. The dog was there too, curled up near his feet._

_Damn dog. Before I saw him hold it, I thought he was strong. But he wasn't. He was weak._

_I walked over to the bed and reached out one of my claws. If I… If I could just…_

_"Why are you hesitating?" I stopped breathing. He was facing the other way. How did he know I was here? "Why are you hesitating?" he asked again. "If you want to kill me, you won't get a better chance. I appear to be defenseless: I have no armor, no sword, and my movement is hindered. It might be possible for you to stick that claw into my throat or heart."_

_… … …No, this was wrong. I put my hand down._

_"You're not going to strike?"_

_"…I smell metal. You're holding a knife." He was expecting me. He was prepared to kill me if I attacked. There was… no point trying._

_"I see, so that's your excuse." He turned around in the bed. He was smiling at me. "You're so… disappointing." His face twisted, and he jerked in the bed._

* * *

Okay, okay, fair enough, that was a little too much of a stretch to be true. My wavering vision and nausea told me well enough that I shouldn't have repeated her words back to her: I was far too interested in this girl to be disappointed. Damn my love for the dramatic!

Oh well, if I could just hide my physical reaction to my own words, this would work to my advantage. Fortunately, I was already lying down, so I didn't need to worry about collapsing from the trauma. And besides, this was far too much fun not to gamble with a little lie. _I've got you all figured out, Werewolf cub. Now, let's find out if I can twist you to my advantage._

Slowly sitting up in my bed, I said, "Come, let's go for a walk. We have much to discuss."

* * *

_What else could I do? Once he was up, I knew I couldn't fight him. So I watched him pick up his sword and pull a pair of vials out of his desk and stick them on his belt. Then I followed him. I followed him out of his tent and out of the camp._

_Now what? Was he going to kill me? …But maybe that was fine. I should've already died anyway._

_"For the record, I'm not upset that you snuck into my tent, nor do I plan to kill you for it." …Damn it. I was starting to hope he would. "Why would I be? I know why you did it." Wait… what?_

_"That's right; I know your husband died. Or should I say your father?"_

_…You curly-haired bastard!_

* * *

The look of utter shock on her face as she ground to a halt was most satisfying. It would appear that Spring's deductions were spot on. But I couldn't bask in this for too long; I needed to keep my eyes and ears open for my target. So I resumed walking through the demonic woods under the light of a neon-blue moon as I continued my one-sided monologue.

"It wasn't too hard to figure out. Your mother happened to mention that she was going to find a place to die after leaving. The only reason a mamono would say something like that is if her husband died. Then there were other things—little clues here and there. You were a human until quite recently, but right after your mother was monsterized, she bit you. You and she both became your father's wives and lived happily with the rest of the Werewolves for a few weeks. But then, the Order of the Chief God invaded the Animal Country, and your father was killed in one of the raids.

"I can't honestly say that I understand what if feels like to lose a husband or father that way, but… let me tell you a little story. When I was six years old, I had two human parents, just like you. We lived in a monster-friendly state and both my parents were thinking it might be a good thing for my mother to be monsterized. But they didn't know what monster they wanted my mom to turn into.

"Then one day, a group of witches came to our house while my dad wasn't home. They tried to convince my mom that being a witch was the best thing in the world, but when she told my dad later that day, he didn't like the idea. Witches are all lolis—child monsters—like you. My father didn't want me to grow up thinking that it was okay to have sex with kids." I couldn't help chuckling a bit. "Ironic, isn't it? I've got two loli wives now, but my father never wanted that for me…

"Anyway, they argued about it off-and-on for two years. My father won the argument each time, and mom promised she wouldn't let the witches monsterize her without his approval. But she lied. When I was 8 years old, I watched them bring her before a Baphomet and perform the rite of lolification. She became a witch, and when my father found out, he went crazy. He couldn't resist her magic and his lust, but he wanted to keep me safe from the perceived danger. Then one night when my mother was off somewhere learning the ways of the witches, my dad kicked me out of the house and told me never to come back. That was the last time I saw either of them. Not long after, our hometown was attacked and I was kidnapped and taken far away from there. I don't even know if they're still alive."

I stopped talking here and waited to see if Grava had anything to add to the conversation. Something I said must've struck a chord with her because she responded. "…Why are you telling me all this?"

"Good question," I said, turning my gaze back onto her for a moment. "I'll answer if you can answer this question first: why are you here?"

* * *

_Why am I here? I'm here because… because… "Because… Daddy's… dead. And you… you… killed the men who killed him."_

_"Yes, that's what happened," he said, waving a hand, "but why are you _

here_? What do you want?"_

_I… I want… "I… want my Daddy."_

_The first day I met him… I don't remember. It was the day I was born. He was always there, always kind, never mean, never cruel. I loved my daddy, and when I became a Werewolf, I loved him even more. But now…_

_"But now… now he's dead." I felt tears in my eyes. "Those men… killed him!" I felt tears on my cheeks. "And I… I wanted to… I wanted to die! But then… you… I saw you kill them… and… I thought…"_

_"Thought what?" he interrupted. "That you wished you'd done it? That you hated me for stealing your revenge from you? Is that why you came here?"_

_He looked right into my eyes. I felt like I had to tell the truth—like I would die if I didn't. "…Yes. I… want to kill, like you do. I want… to kill the people who killed Daddy. But… I can't… because of you…"_

_He nodded and his face got softer. "I see, I see. I understand—I also want revenge—but you're basically wrong: I didn't steal your revenge from you for two reasons. First, because you're too weak: you couldn't kill me when you had the chance and you couldn't kill those soldiers for the same reason. And secondly… I didn't kill everyone responsible for your father's death. Because your Daddy wasn't killed by a person so much as an organization—by the Order."_

_The Order… Yes, that's true. This was all their fault!_

* * *

She didn't say anything to contradict me, so I assumed I still had her attention. Still, this was the tricky part; I was officially walking the tightrope and I still didn't know if there was anything worthwhile on the other end. Still, I pressed on.

"If you want revenge on your father's murderers, there are many, many more soldiers in the Order of the Chief God. Not to mention priests, cardinals, angels, Valkyries and gods. They are _all_ to blame for your father's death. I am somewhat to blame too, I suppose. I was a member of the Order myself for years, and if I had come just a few hours earlier, your father might not have been killed. However… if you think that killing your enemies is the same as getting revenge on them, you're so very wrong."

I paused for a moment before deciding how to proceed. "Let me ask, why were you disappointed in me before? I'll answer that question for you: because you wanted to see me as a bloodthirsty killer. I _am_ a killer, but I'm not bloodthirsty; that is a misunderstanding. I don't want my enemies dead, and I don't kill when it's unnecessary to do so. Do you know why?"

"Because you're a coward!" was her immediate response.

"Oh? And what does that make you, the girl who couldn't kill a man when she had the chance?" I glared at her accusation, but then waved it off and said, "No, wrong, I don't kill more than necessary because death… is much too quick. I don't want my enemies to simply fade out of existence: I want them to live—to live and suffer and know that I caused their suffering the same as how they caused mine. I want to punish them forever:_ that_ is true revenge. That said…" I trailed off and then quickly threw my face directly in front of red-furred Werewolf's. "…I'm still willing to kill anyone if they get in my way. Or if I find it useful. Or better yet, both at the same time. Now I ask you, can you do the same? Would you do anything to avenge your father?" Suddenly I heard a sound nearby and marveled at the perfect timing. With a malicious smile, I said, "Why don't we find out?"

* * *

_His position—I recognized it. He was stalking some prey. I followed his lead and we snuck up on a nearby mamono, a Werecat. It was sniffing the ground and moving toward the orc camp. I heard the killer hiss and say, "You see that? That Werecat has been following us since we released it from captivity over a couple weeks ago. Do you know why?"_

_I shook my head. I didn't even know we _

were_ being followed. How did _he_ find out?_

_"I absolutely hate Werecats," he continued. "Werecats, Sphinxes and all other cat-monsters. Do you know why? They're selfish and arrogant. They think they're the masters of the world. Basically, they remind me too much of _

me_: dominant and uncontrollable. And most of all… they always, always try to eat Regina."_

_Wait, they do what? "…That's stupid. No one would eat a dog."_

_But he shook his head and jabbed my forehead with a finger. "Nope, wrong, cat-monsters do. And there's a reason for that: feline and canine races are historical enemies. When the Mamono Lord came to power, the Werewolves and Werecats stopped fighting each other, but on some instinctual level, they still don't get along. Werecats still kill and eat normal dogs whenever they see them. I've seen them try it with Regina several times before. One Sphinx in particular gave me a really hard time in Saharad. So, you know what has to be done, right?"_

_…What has to be done… Wait a minute… "You're… going to kill her?"_

_Slowly he nodded and then shook his head. "Maybe, that depends… on whether or not _

you_ do." And then he pulled one of the vials out of his belt and held it out to me._

* * *

I watched her make a face at the vial, and before she could ask what it was, I explained. "This is poison, at least for you mamono. It's a mix of Rage and Purify potions. The Order uses this stuff to help its soldiers ignore lust and fight. But for a mamono… Purify clears out mamono mana—your life force—so too much of it can kill a mamono. Too little, however, and a mamono cannot overcome her lust with anger. I've been experimenting with the quantities for a long time, trying to find a balance so I could give it to my wives someday—so I could help them fight for me. But… experiments require… expendable test subjects—people who I can kill off without worrying. Who better to test this one on than that Werecat?"

I paused and pushed the vial into Grava's paw. "And you… I want you to do it. Force the Werecat to drink the potion. If it kills her, so be it. If it doesn't, I'll analyze the results and then… you must kill her with your claws."

"But… she's not in the Order. She's… like me."

"No, she's not. That Werecat is consumed with lust; she doesn't understand the desire for revenge. And you need to learn something; if you _really _want to avenge your father, you need to able to kill _anyone_ whenever necessary. Not just humans in the Order: monsters too."

The cub looked down at the potion in her hands and looked up at me trembling a little. "…What if I don't?"

I fixed the evilest grin I could conjure on her and touched the pommel of my sword. "If you refuse… I'll kill you _both_ myself. You know too much now. You're either useful to me… or you're in my way. And I kill people who are in my way. So, you have to make a choice. You can follow me, learn my ways and seek your vengeance, or refuse, fight me here, and die. …What do you want to do?"

* * *

_"__CHAIN BIND!__"_

_The Werecat was caught in chains before it even saw us coming. She screamed and called for help. "I'll keep a lookout for any witnesses while you do your job," the bastard said before pulling out his sword and turning around._

_My job. Yes. I needed to… kill the Werecat. I swallowed and looked at her. She was beautiful, with cute ears and a cute tail. I couldn't tell much about her besides that; it was too dark out here._

_"W-what's going on?!" she yelled at me. "What is that?! …Oh… Oh wait… you're a monster girl. Oh, okay, ahhh, I thought I was in trouble. What are you doing kid?"_

_"…I'm… going to kill you."_

_She stopped smiling and screamed again. "What?! What do you mean? Oh, wait, haha, this is a joke. Right?"_

_Behind me, Corman spoke again. "Don't talk to her, just kill her. The longer you take, the harder it will be."_

_I nodded and walked over to the Werecat. I grabbed her face and opened her mouth. All I needed to do was put the poison in her mouth. That's all… just… put the poison in._

_"You won' do id." The Werecat spoke calmly. She sounded weird because I was holding her mouth. "You won'. You're a 'onster girl. You're detter than dat."_

_Corman spoke. "'Better' is just a polite way of saying 'weaker.' This girl is nothing but an obstacle. You'll never avenge your father unless you kill her."_

_"Father?"_

_He's right. If I don't kill her, _

he'll_ kill _me_. So I… have to do it. I have to._

_"I don' know what hattened to your dad," the Werecat said, and I started to let go of her mouth. "But he wouldn't want this. He would want you to be a good girl and-"_

_"You don't know that!" Corman yelled and I shuddered. "You don't know what he would want! I don't know what he would want! And it doesn't matter anyway, because he's not here! He's dead! What he wanted doesn't matter anymore! What matters… is what _

you_ want. Your Daddy died—are you going to die too?! Will you let him die for nothing?!"_

_"Listen-"_

_"Do you even care?!" He didn't let her speak. "He died like a dog! And his killers would've gotten away with it if _

I_ hadn't stepped in! When I got there, you were running away with your tail between your legs! Coward! Maybe you can't do it after all! You couldn't kill to save his life: maybe you can't kill to avenge it either!"_

_…What? What are you saying? It's… not _

my_ fault. It's not… my fault!_

_"You won't kill me," the Werecat said. "I believe in you."_

_"I agree," he said. "I believe in your cowardice too. It saved you once; maybe if you run now and leave this girl to die, you can escape again… just like you did when your father died."_

_"SHUT UUUUPPP!" I smashed the vial down the Werecat's throat._

* * *

The sound of glass shattering and wet coughing alerted me to the fact that I may have gone a bit too far. I stopped watching the woods and turned around just in time to parry an attack from a red-haired beast flying through the air claws outstretched. "TAKE IT BACK! TAKE IT BACK, YOU BASTARD!"

Oh, yeah. I definitely hit a nerve.

"CHAIN BIND!" With Grava effectively immobilized, I ran over to the Werecat. But there was no point trying to analyze her response to the potions now. Her throat had been sliced open by broken glass from the inside. She was thoroughly dead. "Oops. …Well, that was a waste of a good potion!"

"Take it back." I turned back to the Werewolf to see her face twisted with grief, her eyes overflowing with tears. "It's not… my fault. I-I didn't… Daddy…"

I turned around and faced the other way. "Very well, I acknowledge that you are not a coward. You are strong enough… to kill. Now go ahead and cry as much as you need to. The gods know I did when I was your age."

Some time later the weeping stopped. I was beginning to wonder what I should do next when I heard her speak. "-you."

"What's that?"

When I turned back to face her, her eyes were fixed on me, glowing red and full of hate. "I'm going to kill you."

"Ah," I said with a shrug. "Maybe so. I admit that you're _brave_ enough to do it. However…" I lifted my sword and held it in front of her nose. "How are you going to do that all chained up with no way to move? Face it: you may not be a coward, but you're still _weak_. You can't do anything…" Her glare weakened and her eyes turned down. "…Not yet, anyway. DEACTIVATE CHAIN BIND!"

The chains suddenly glowed and dissolved, and the child looked up at me open-mouthed and confused. She quickly bounced to her feet and put some distance between us, watching me warily. "Are you that afraid of me?" I said with a chuckle. "Good. You should be. You cannot possibly hope to defeat me even in a fair fight. _But_…" I let the word hang in the air for a moment before sheathing my sword. "As I told you before, I don't kill unnecessarily. Don't give me a _reason_ to kill you, and I _won't_ kill you."

The Werewolf didn't let her guard down. She shifted her stance a bit and muttered, "…But I just said I would kill you."

"Ahahahaha, yes, you did. So what?" In response to her suspicion I held my hands out to the sides. "I don't need you to _like_ me for you to be _useful _to me. And you don't need to like me to use me. I just taught you how to kill. Come with me, serve me, and I will teach you more about how to get your revenge."

"Why?" Grava asked slowly. "I want revenge on _you_."

"And the Order," I corrected. "And that's my point: we have a common enemy. I hate the Order. You hate the Order. Let's work together, at least for now. And if you betray me along the way, so be it. May the best man survive."

Grava wavered a bit. After an awkwardly quiet moment, she finally said, "You haven't answered my question yet."

I couldn't help tilting my head to the side and raising an eyebrow. "Pardon? What question?"

"Why did you tell me? About your parents?"

Oh, that. "Ah, yes I suppose I did promise to answer that question, didn't I? Well, there are two reasons. One is because I wanted you to understand why I sympathize with you. We both lost our parents because of a bunch of arrogant pricks and we both want revenge. I see a lot of myself in you, and a part of me wants to guide you down the same path I have chosen.

"And yet… the second reason… I also wanted you to understand how I feel about you." I hesitated a bit and then decided I'd already come this far; I might as well put all my cards on the table. "I… want revenge on you just as you want revenge on me."

Grava shuddered and dropped deeper into her guarded posture. "What do you mean? Why?"

"Because… most of the bad that's happened to me in my life… is your fault." I got this far and then added an addendum. "Oh, not you _personally_. You _mamono_. You monster girls took away my parents and everyone else I cared about. You see, I hate the Order for being an organization of liars and idiots, and yes, the Chief God is partially responsible for my suffering because she's a lousy tyrant, but the people I want revenge against… are mostly your kind. In fact…" …Aw, hell, why not? All cards, on table. It's not as though anyone else could hear us out here anyway. "In fact, do you want to know how I really feel about you? I'll tell you in my _real_ voice."

I took a deep breath and dropped my _fake_ fancy accent. And then… I let loose. "GO TO HEEEELLLL! Every last one of you! I can't stand to look at your face, you father-fucking bitch kid! You sex-happy jackasses stole my parents from me! And then, you destroyed my hometown—not the Order, _you mamono_ did it! You took away everything I loved! And did it stop there?! Fuck, no! It wasn't enough to ruin my life, you just had to do it over, and over, and over! Every time I found some happiness, you stole it from me! You know what I want to do right now?! I want to come over there, tie you down, and fuck you 'til you cry for your dead daddy! That's right; I went there! I would force you to know that you were having sex with someone _other_ than your dad,… and then maybe, just maybe, even you might actually begin to understand what it feels like to have sex WHEN YOU DON'T WANT IT!"

My breath caught in my throat, and I choked back any more words I might've yelled. I'd said too much; I didn't need her knowing about _that_ part of my story. Besides, judging by how she was shaking all over, I thought I got my point across. "So yeah, I hate your guts. But… that doesn't mean I'm gonna kill you. Like I said, you remind me of me a little. I don't hate you as much as most others. And more importantly…" I winced and righted myself. I took a deep breath, cleared my throat, and spoke in the refined manner I usually use. "You are more useful to me alive than dead, and not only you—all the others too are extremely useful pawns to me. That's why I attempt to treat them kindly and fairly: not because I don't hate them but because I need them to cooperate. And you… you could benefit greatly from traveling with me. The Order has marked me as a traitor—they want me to die. If you come with me, opportunities for revenge will present themselves to you."

Grava, her jaw wide open, shook her head slowly. "You… you're… evil!"

I rolled my eyes and snidely declared, "I don't want to hear that from _you_. Or have you already forgotten? _The Werecat you just killed?_ You had no good reason to do it. You're evil too."

"You would've killed me if I didn't do it!" she cried out with a snarl. "I had no choice!"

"There's always a choice!" I countered. "You could've chosen to run while my back was turned! Or you could've chosen to call out and warn her, then sacrificed yourself to let her escape! You chose to kill because you wanted revenge; there is no justice or goodness in you anymore. You're an avenger now, just like me."

She stopped and looked at her claws. Her blood-soaked claws. Then she started laughing and crying at the same time. This went on for a few moments and then she yelled, "You tricked me! I'm a murderer… but I… I'm not sad about it! I'm not! I didn't do anything wrong! I… I would do it all again! Ahahaha, I killed someone! I _can_ kill someone! Ahhhhhhh, it's not my fault! I just…!"

I grinned and reached out my hand to her. "Follow me. I will teach you how to ignore that… annoying conscience of yours and do whatever is required to fulfill your desires."

The girl quieted a bit and stared at my hand. She sniffed at the air a bit, as though checking for some sign of a lie. Then she asked one last question. "If I refuse… will you kill me?"

I nodded.

After a moment, the girl's ears and tail drooped and she let out a long sigh. The air around her changed as she lowered her hands, stood up straight and said, "I… don't want to die. I… want revenge. …Take me with you."

* * *

_"Lesson 1: Your talents are your tools; learn to use them. In your case, as a Werewolf, your greatest talents lie in your speed, your superior senses, your innate hunting skill, and of course, your ability to transform other women—adult and child alike—into Werewolves by biting them."_

_"…Biting… You just want me to make you more Werewolves."_

_"Haha, good observation! You're not wrong. Which leads me straight into Lesson 2: The people around you are tools; learn to control them."_

_I wasn't really listening as he led me back to the camp. I kept trying to think of a way to leave. Run? No, he would catch me and kill me. Tell the orcs the truth? …Maybe, but I wasn't sure they'd listen. And if they didn't… he would catch me and kill me. Even if they did… it probably wouldn't distract him enough. He would still catch me and kill me. Damn it._

_"Ah, the guard!" He put a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged him off and looked where he was pointing. We were back in the camp. An orc—What was her name?—was watching over the prisoners at night. "Allow me to demonstrate lesson 2."_

* * *

Okay, now what was this orc's name…? Uhhhh, Rolbech, that was it! Praying that I got that right, I called out to her. "Hail, Rolbech!"

The pig-girl, who was starting to nod off a bit, literally jumped, looked around and stood eagerly at attention when she spotted me. "Sheif! There ain't no problums tonigh'! All quie'!"

I raised a hand for silence. "Excellent, excellent. I've come in search of a prisoner. I would appreciate—and reward—your help finding one who is male, unmarried and generally angry. Do you know anyone who fits that description?"

Rolbech's eyes lit up. "Rewa'd?! I me'n, yeh, yeh, I know a foo." Then she turned around and walked into the penned off area.

I started to follow her when I felt a tug on my sleeve. "A man?" I didn't need to hear the full question to know why Grava was confused, but I didn't answer her right away. Instead, I simply gestured for her to follow and walked inside the confinement zone.

The number of humans in this area was dwindling bit by bit. Over the weeks, several men had incubized and many women had monsterized as a result of prolonged exposure to the corrupt atmosphere of the mamono realms. Most of the women who transformed were succubi and thus useless, so they were released. But the holstaurs and Weresheep were kept along with their husbands, and we were milking and sheering them almost daily. Ava would take the milk and wool with her to various towns, sell them, and buy other food and equipment we needed. Overall, it was still a net loss, but we were losing money more slowly this way.

"Now lessee 'ere…" Rolbech looked around at the various still-human men. "Uh, no, no, uh… Thi' one es perty an'ry. Annnn'… Thi' one too… No, no wait! Thi' one. Yeh, yeh, thi' one. Defernat-defen-defil-… uhhh, thi' one fo' shore."

I looked at the man in question. He was tall—taller than me—and wore a simple tunic. He had a full beard and unkempt black hair and he looked fairly dignified even while sleeping on the ground chained up. Nodding in approval, I responded, "Thank you, I'll take him with me now. RESTRUCTURE CHAIN BIND!" The chains around the man glowed, but rather that outright disappearing, they simply changed forms. Now the chain connected his neck and wrists to my right arm rather than the ground. "…Would you mind waking him up for me? I'd prefer not to drag him along the ground the entire way."

* * *

_"Lesson 3: the key to controlling people is controlling their emotions; use the emotions of others and learn to coexist with your own."_

_We were in the killer's tent with the angry man. Why did Corman ask for a man? I thought he wanted me to make Werewolves._

_He took another one of those potions and forced it down the angry man's throat. "Anger is the emotion of power and recklessness. It makes people strong and stupid. That means, they are easy to trick and useful to fight with." After throwing away the glass, he pulled out his sword and held it at the man's throat. "You, sir, must now choose; obey or die."_

_The angry man spit at Corman. "I won't do anything you say, you tr-"_

_Blood. I felt it splatter on me as Corman cut off the man's head. "Then you are more useful to me dead."_

_I heard a bark nearby. The dog on the killer's bed was awake and watching us. Her hair was standing on end. "Oh, oh, Reggie…" Corman dropped his sword and ran over to her. He started petting her. "Shh, shh, calm down, there's nothing for you to worry about. I'll take you over to… uhhhh, Rolbech, and she'll watch over you until we're done here."_

_"…What would you do if I killed that do-"_

_He grabbed my throat. He moved so fast I couldn't see him. "…I'd never let that happen. You'll die before you get close enough to even cut her hair. Understood?" …I nodded._

* * *

_A little later, we had a different man in the tent. The first one was still there, still dead. The new man stank of sweat. "Fear is the emotion of weakness and caution. It helps people know when it's smart to run or submit. That means, people who are afraid are easy for the strong to command so long as they aren't paralyzed or more afraid of something else." The killer put his sword next to the new man's throat._

_"W-wait, wait! What do you want? I'll do it, I'll do it! I don't want to die."_

_Corman smiled at me. "You see? Easy." He took his sword away from the man's neck and knelt down in front of him. "Now then, it's your lucky day, good sir; you're about to get a harem. You're welcome. Grava, bury that body."_

_"…What?"_

_"Bury the body. It would be… troublesome if anyone outside this tent saw it. I'll cover up the scent with a deodorizing potion, so you make a space for it while I train my new comrade-in-sex how to tame his soon-to-be wives. …Oh, and be sure to wash up afterward; you're a bloody mess and the nighttime darkness isn't going to cover that up forever. I'll have to do the same."_

_I looked at the headless man for a moment. "…What would you do if I called over the orcs instead. Would you kill me?"_

_"No," he said. "As frustrating as it would be, I would have to kill _

them_. As for you… I would capture you and keep you as a slave for as long as I could afford to. That would be my revenge for interfering with my plan. Besides, I wouldn't let you get that far in the first place. You would have to escape from this tent before they could hear you, and before you did that, I would catch you and torment you until you submitted to me. So if you don't want to betray your father by begging to have sex with me, I suggest you obey, for now."_

_…Damn him. I looked down at my bloody claws for a moment. I decided to lick it a bit. …It was a little sweet…_

* * *

After retrieving six women from the prison area, I had Grava bite them. Honestly, I would've preferred to grab six children—they would've been more easily influenced than grown adults—but I didn't want Grava to sympathize with them too strongly lest her feelings of guilt overwhelm her. Incidentally, I couldn't help noticing that she bit the women deep enough to draw blood each time. And she was also licking it off her lips. It was an ominous sight, but I decided not to comment on it yet.

As we waited for the women to transform, the cub looked up at me silently for several minutes. She had returned to her blank, unnerving expression, but the way she tilted her head made her look curious. After waiting for her to ask her question until well after the silence grew awkward, I finally spoke first. "Is something on your mind? Trying to discern the best way to kill or escape from me?"

The cub shook her head… then a moment later she nodded. "Yes, but… I want to know why. You marry a lot of women… Why not these ones? Why give them to him?" She gestured to the sniveling, red-haired, freckly-faced teenager behind me.

My answer began with a sneer. "What I did with the others, I did to gain subordinates, not wives. Up until now, the two have gone together. But a wife needs sex, and sex takes time. I don't have unlimited time; the more time I spend on sex, the less I can spend on my revenge. So I can't have too many wives. So… if I see a way to make a mamono work for me _without_ marrying her, that's an option I'm more than happy to consider."

Grava nodded slowly. "I… understand. …I think. But… how will you control them?"

"Patience," I responded with a widening grin. "Just keep watching and listening; we're getting to that part."

* * *

_"Lust and love. For humans these are two separate emotions which are all about desire and devotion. In mamono, they are the same, and that makes it even more malleable. If a mamono desires someone, they become devoted to him, will do anything for him to a point. Of course, there is some variance on this, but…"_

_They were having sex now. Or… they should have been. But Corman kept stopping them. The Werewolves were tied up, and the man was… tickling and messing with them one at a time. Corman kept stopping him before he listened to their begging for sex. It was so mean. And… I was getting wet watching it._

_"Are you turned on?" The murderer said it real quiet. "I know you're devoted to your father, but… you're also a mamono. I find it hard to believe you don't still feel lust."_

_I didn't want to say it. But I was afraid to lie to him. So I answered. "Yes, I am."_

_"Then masturbate. That's what I'm doing." I turned to look at him. He was holding his own penis and moving it. "Lust is a treacherously uncontrollable emotion, especially for us: men and mamono. So cut a deal with it. Give yourself a little satisfaction. It's not a betrayal of your father to—Hey!" He suddenly lifted his sword and held it in front of the red-haired man's neck. "What have I been saying? Do not have sex with her until she begs you for _marriage_."_

_The man whimpered like a dog. "But I want her so bad! I can't stop now!"_

_"You'll never have sex at all without a head!" Corman yelled real loud and the man shut up. "Now get back to denying her! You have sex _

only_ when I give you permission; not before."_

_The man moved back to where he was: holding a feather on the girl's special spot. She was laughing and begging. It sounded like it tickled. …My Daddy used to play tickles with me, before I was monsterized. I wondered what it would've felt like… to be tickled by Daddy like that…_

_I licked a bit more blood off my claw and reached down to touch myself. But then Corman interrupted. "Does it taste good?"_

Does what taste good? …Oh, the blood._ "…Yes. It tastes… bitter… and sweet… like my Daddy but… more sad."_

_"That's a scary thing to say," he added, and I saw him shiver. "You sound like a vampire… or one of the monsters of old. Yeah, if there was any doubt left, that settles it: you're not a Werewolf."_

_…What?_

* * *

"You're not a Werewolf. Or at least, you're not a _proper_ Werewolf. You've mutated. Backwards." I was practically talking to myself by now. My voice got lower and lower until it was barely above a whisper. "You've killed an innocent person. You outlived your husband. You enjoy the taste of blood. There's no doubt: you're a Regressive mutant. Probably a completely new species."

Around this time, I realized the Werewolf in front of me was officially begging to marry the cowardly man at my sword's tip—Franklin was his name. "Oh, yes, you may proceed now." Franklin wasted no time jumping onto the woman, slamming his penis into the very wet and ready vagina. And I in turn pumped myself until I came. "…Ahh, damn it, it's not as good as actual sex anymore. How frustrating."

Stuffing my member back into my pants, I turned to look at Grava again. Her fur had darkened a bit to match the color of blood and her eyes were also turning bright red, as though she were finally coming alive at last. I wasn't certain if it was a side-effect of her finding a new purpose in life or if this meant she had mutated just earlier tonight, but whatever the reason, her new "daughters"—that is, the other mamono—matched her new color scheme. She was fucking herself to the sight with one hand and licking some blood off the other. It was so twisted it made my stomach churn. I never enjoyed the sights of blood or gore even after I got used to killing. And yet, seeing the contrast of sex and death together here in this girl…

"You really do mirror my past far too much…" I barely said this out loud, an almost silent whisper. Even so, judging from how quickly she snapped her head around to look at me, I suspected she'd heard that.

Perhaps I should be the one to name this new race?

* * *

_"I believe it's almost time to see the fruit of our labors. But first, we're going to need another unsuspecting accomplice or two. __CHAIN BIND!__ Now, follow me."_

_Leaving the sweaty, stinky prisoner chained up behind us, Corman led me out of the tent. The sun was rising and the orcs were waking up. I could smell the chef, Swedilishin's, cooking already. It didn't smell as good as those women's blood had._

_"Kal'lra!"_

_I looked over to where the murderer was yelling. I saw the orc pirate run over and ask, "Yes, Chief, what is it? You're up early this morning. Do we have time for sex before we leave?!"_

_Corman held up his right hand. "Maybe. But first, we have… an unpleasant job to do. And I need your help. Do you trust me?"_

* * *

In my tent once again, I secured Franklin in a crucifix behind me then ordered Kal'lra and Grava to stand on either side of him. I'd already told Kal'lra to go along with anything I say, no matter how scary it sounds. Now would be a test of both her loyalty and her subtlety at a critical moment. …This might prove to be the riskiest part of this whole endeavor.

I stood in front of the Werewolves, or whatever they were now, and said, "DEACTIVATE CHAIN BIND!" The chains on the wolves disintegrated, and they cautiously rose. They didn't try to run because they didn't want to leave their husband behind—their instincts wouldn't allow that. But they didn't attack either because my air of confidence instilled the belief that I was too dangerous an adversary for them to defeat—which I was. "Now, for the final phase, I present this ultimatum: do whatever I command… lest your husband be killed."

A chilling atmosphere filled the room as eight people had three different reactions to my statement. Grava raised her eyebrows in realization of my little control scheme. Kal'lra stiffened and struggled not to move or open her mouth. And the wolf-girls (aside from Grava, of course) eyed me warily and backed up without letting down their guard. "Y-you wouldn't," one of them said.

In my mind I said, _Lesson 4: never overestimate your enemy's morality; there is no limit to what an evil person will do. _I stopped myself from saying it out loud, though, because I didn't want Kal'lra asking me why I said "Lesson 4" later on. Instead… "Grava… draw some blood, but don't let him die just yet."

Kal'lra's gasp was drowned out by the word, "…Sure," followed by a scream of pain. I had been uncertain if she would do it, but I had a sneaking suspicion that her infatuation with blood was getting stronger by the minute. Besides, if there was one thing I had decided about Grava by now, it was that she was a cautious girl who would not disobey me carelessly; she was intelligent enough to seek the right timing rather than recklessly tick me off.

I motioned to Kal'lra as subtly as I could, hoping she'd understand that I needed her to stay in character, before speaking once more to the red-furred wolves. "Let this be a lesson to you: don't underestimate what someone is willing to do. Every one of us has killed before, even Kal'lra. It would be… unwise of you to assume we won't do it now." My words seemed to catch Kal'lra's attention as she immediately shot curious look over at the loli wolf. But now was not the time to let Kal'lra's faltering demeanor push me off the tightrope—not now when I'd almost reached the far side. "The bottom line is simply this: obey me and everything I tell you to do, and not only will your husband live, but he will be kept safe and you can each have sex with him daily. If you will not obey, however… then I have no use for him."

_Come on, come on, accept the offer before someone on my side breaks._ The wolves started to circle me. I wasn't going to allow that, so I dashed in front of the one who looked the most confident and pushed her back. They stopped moving again, marveling at my speed. Kal'lra seemed surprised too. That was only natural; she'd never seen me run full tilt without my armor on before. Moving without that excess weight made quite a difference.

After another tense minute, the man chained up in a crucifix said, "Please,… just do what he says." That was all it took to break their will to fight. Of course it was: I had set him up as their alpha by teaching him how to utterly sexually dominate them. If _his_ will was broken, so were theirs. So, one-by-one, they sat down on the ground and bowed low before me.

Almost there, almost there. Next to deal with Kal'lra's wavering faith in me. "To start, go to the Ratatoskr, Spring, and await her instructions. She will be your direct superior and you will be her eyes and ears. Go!" The women stood and left the room as if fleeing.

After a moment, Kal'lra opened her mouth to yell. "WHA-mph!" But I cut her off by running up to her and placing one hand over her mouth and the other on her left breast.

After I had her too overwhelmed to speak or resist, I released her bosom and put a finger to my lips before letting go of her mouth and turning around. "Kal'lra, I need to speak to you now privately. Please wait here while Grava and I return the prisoner to the pen."

The orc hesitated for an awkwardly long minute but finally nodded her assent. I then turned and left the tent with Grava and the slave behind me, but not before staging a little accident with the injured man to inconspicuously turn off Tinkler's soundproofing device next to the tent flap.

* * *

_"…I don't think she'll listen to you anymore."_

_The killer was calm. He didn't smell afraid when he asked, "Why do you think that?"_

_…Was I wrong? "She knows you're evil now. She won't listen to you anymore."_

_But Corman chuckled and said, "Oh ye of little faith. It's true that she knows I'm evil _for now_, but she doesn't want to believe it. Denial: the emotion of sanity and sheer stupidity. A person in denial will listen to a crafty excuse rather than accept the obvious truth because to do so would break their spirits. All it takes is a few carefully chosen words, and they'll believe because they _want_ to believe. The fact that she knows I cannot technically lie makes her even easier to trick. You'll see what I mean when we get back."_

_"Which reminds me…" Corman turned his head a bit and spoke to the coward the other Werewolves had accepted as their alpha. "You had better not say anything too… classified… to anyone. If I discover that you've been saying things about me when I wasn't listening… Well, your usefulness _

does_ have limits. And I do have other prisoners that I could turn into newly-wed wolf-girls… with a different husband."_

_The coward swallowed real loud. "I-I understand… master."_

* * *

A few minutes later, I re-entered my tent without Grava, and immediately, Kal'lra almost knocked me down (as on guard as I was, I was a little slow to react because my caution was directed toward Grava and my arms were full). "Wha' are ya' doin'?! We can't… ya' can't jus'…" Her accent was slipping. She must've been extremely disturbed. I couldn't blame her: if I were in her position, I probably would be too.

_Okay, step one: make her back off a bit._ "Woah, hey, easy! I'm carrying a dog here!"

"Wha'?" Kal'lra stopped shaking me and looked down to see the somewhat disturbed Regina being squashed between my arms below and her boobs above. "Oh. Oh, sorry!" she exclaimed, finally letting go of my shoulders and pulling away. I thanked her with a nod but didn't put the dog down; as much as I loved Regina, I knew she would make a good meat shield right now.

While Kal'lra was still flustered from accidently smothering the Sheltie, I began my nefariously planned argument. "I understand why you're disturbed. This is… quite distressing."

"Distressing?!" she yelled, "You said you were gonna… gonna kill that man." Her voice quieted near the end, as though she could barely say it.

But I shook my head, being careful not to smirk at my mastery of language lest my pleasure drive her further away. "Actually, I didn't. I told those women to serve me lest their husband should be killed, true. But I never said 'killed by me.' And besides, the statement doesn't mean what it sounds like. I basically told them that if they didn't serve me, there was a _possibility_ that their husband _might_ be killed by _someone_. That's not at all the same as saying _I_ would ever actually kill him _myself_."

"…Oh." Kal'lra calmed a bit and started thinking. "But… but it was still wrong… to scare them like that."

I did my best to look sad, averting my gaze and slowly stroking Regina's fur. "Yes it was… But it was necessary. Now we have more security: those wolves will warn us if they see the Order's agents nearby. Not just because I threatened them but also because their husband is here under our protection. I'm asking you, for the sake of the tribe, let this pass." Yes, I had found Kal'lra's justification-button: fight for me _and_ for your sisters. If I only ever spoke of myself, it made me look selfish, but if I talked about her sister orcs, it made it look as though everything I did, I did for her _and her family_.

Still, the pig-girl would need more than this. After wavering for a few moments she said. "But… that other girl… she… she cut him. She actually _cut_ him, and he didn't do anything."

"Indeed, that girl is… dangerous." I turned away from Kal'lra and set my dog gently onto my bed, her tail wagging all the while. "I cannot guarantee that she wouldn't actually kill that man. I saw her kill someone else just last night." The orc's breath caught, so after a pause, I continued. "Do you know about that black-haired man with the beard among the prisoners? I must inform you… that he is now dead—murdered—and buried under this tent. And Grava… after it was all over, she licked his blood and told me it tasted good."

Kal'lra started shivering and I heard her stammer out. "N-n-no… Y-you didn't… tell her t-t-to kill him… did you?"

With my back still turned to Kal'lra, I indulged myself in a quick, evil smile. This conversation couldn't be going better if I'd controlled the words coming out of the orc's mouth with magic. "Of course I didn't!" Delving into my Rage, I whirled on Kal'lra, pretending to be offended by the accusation. "Do you honestly believe I would order the death of an innocent man?! No… all I demanded of her was that she bury the body. I didn't want to frighten everyone with this—with the knowledge that Grava is… a Regressive mutant."

I sat down on my bed and put a hand to my forehead. After letting out a long sigh, I asked, "Has Spring told you about Grava's past? She's outlived her husband's death. I thought that sounded abnormal, so I decided to spend all night talking with her about it. She… Kal'lra she blames me and the Order for what happened. She wants us dead." As Kal'lra gasped and put a hand over mouth, I raised my hands reassuringly. "Calm down, calm down. I know this is a lot to take in, but… Haaa, this… could be beneficial to us if we act with extreme caution around her. She's a killer, but her real target isn't you or the tribe: it's the Order. So… I cut a deal with her. She'll work for us until further notice. That said… we're going to need to keep a very close eye on her. Understand?"

The orc fidgeted and bit her lip. She looked away, made eye contact and looked away again until at last she answered. "Alright, I trust you Chief. I'll keep an eye on her and warn the others too."

"_Carefully_ warn the others," I corrected. "We don't want them to panic over this. Also,… I can't lie about what happened. Do you… do you think you could make up some excuse for why that prisoner isn't here anymore? Rolbech in particular may start wondering where he disappeared to."

Kal'lra's shoulders slumped. "…What should I say?"

I shrugged. "Whatever you think they'll believe. Tell them he escaped or he was an agent of the Order and tried to assassinate me. Any excuse will do as long as you don't change it. They'll listen to you; they look up to you. You have a duty to protect them from… sad truths. And I… I will continue to speak with Grava for a little while and make sure she understands her place here and the chain of command. Insofar as it is within my power, I will not allow her to harm my faithful tribe."

Slowly and a bit awkwardly, Kal'lra smiled. "Thanks Chief. I feel a bit better now, but… I'm gonna need some time to feel sad."

I nodded understandingly. "Of course. Go ask Sava to oversee this morning's preparations on your behalf. The difficult stuff can wait until later." I patted her arm reassuringly and led her to the exit. She started a bit at seeing the cub on the other side, but managed to keep a cool demeanor and leave without saying anything to her.

Once Kal'lra was out of earshot, I quietly said, "I see you decided not to run when I wasn't looking. And you didn't interrupt our conversation either… Come inside."

And as I held the tent flap open for the child, I turned the sound-proofing device back on.

* * *

_I heard it all. And he was right again: she listened to what he said and believed it. Also, he didn't lie at all. But… he didn't tell her… that that man was _not _the person I killed._

_"You're… amazing." I didn't want to say it, but he was. Then I had a question. "What if… what if I told her the real truth? What if I told her you killed him? What would happen?"_

_He raised his eyebrows and smiled. "'What would happen?' you ask. Not, "What would I do?' Heh, well, she wouldn't believe you. Why would she? She's seen you hurt an innocent man and knows that I cannot lie. More importantly, now that she knows you've killed at least one innocent person, she has an excuse to believe me over you. Even if deep down she knows the truth… she won't accept it. And that leaves me in control. You see? People are tools, and emotions are how you control them._

_Okay… yes, I understood now. But… I still had one question. "You said… you don't want to kill anyone… but you do want revenge on everyone. How are you going to get it?"_

_Corman frowned. "Yes, of course, allow me to tell you all about my master plan like some kind of idiot. Lesson 5: information is power. The more you know about others, the more weapons you have to use against them. But on the other hand, the more others know about you, the more dangerous they are. I will not tell you anything about my goals until I decide it's more beneficial for you to know than not know. And you… you should learn to do the same. You're curious and cautious—that's good. But if you ask me what I would do every time you get a new idea, I'll always know what you're thinking, and I'll always be prepared to stop your plan. If you ever want to make a move against me, you're going to have to figure out how to make a risk assessment on your own."_

I see. I understand._ "Now," he said, "it's my turn to ask you a question. Just now, outside my tent, you had a perfect opportunity to run—to run away as fast as possible and escape my blade's reach. Why didn't you?"_

_"…Because I was curious. I think… I want to learn from you. And… I think I can kill you… maybe… if I stay here long enough."_

_My enemy smiled at me._

* * *

After lecturing Grava about how she was to behave around the others and dismissing her, I went over to my desk, sat down, and let out a long sigh. Regina, perhaps sensing my stress, jumped down from the bed and came over to lick my hand. I smiled and pet her for a few seconds before lifting her up, hugging her close, and laughing loudly and maniacally.

"I did it! I gambled and it worked! Oh, Reggie, I. Am. The best!" Grava would work for me willingly for the foreseeable future, I now had a small commando unit of Werewolves under my thumb, and Kal'lra and the others would remain none the wiser as to how it all really happened. Of course, my effort to experiment on the Werecat had failed, but considering how much worse this whole mess could have turned out, it was an acceptable loss. I felt so giddy I could almost believe myself capable of defeating my true enemy here and now. Thank goodness she was nowhere near here, or I might've done something stupid.

After indulging in my laughter for until I had tears streaking down my face, I set the dog back on the floor and opened one of my desk's drawers. This time, the book I pulled out wasn't the _Monster Girl Encyclopedia_. This was something else: my own _Book of Regressives_. Turning to an unmarked page, I pulled out a pen and ink and began to write.

_Species: Bloodwolf  
Mother race: Werewolf  
Defining Features: Willingness to kill, Taste for blood, Vengeful tendencies after the death of the husband, Blood-red fur (?), Cautious, Calculating, Excellent hunter's instinct  
Danger Level: moderately deadly_

_Bloodwolf… Yes, I think that name fits nicely. Welcome to the tribe, Grava the Bloodwolf._

* * *

The book was wrong.

Oh, to be sure most mamono adhere to monster morality, but there were a few rare exceptions that these biased propaganda novels ignored: mutations that were much crueler and more deplorable than their relatively peaceful counterparts. We called them "Regressives" because they seemed to have regressed backwards in their evolution—back toward the times when monsters were evil beings that ate humans.

There were several theories as to why these creatures existed. Maybe the Chief God was focusing on undoing the mamono paradise one race at a time. Or perhaps the Mamono Lord's power was waning. Or maybe they were just freak accidents. Personally I didn't care what the reason was; the only thing that mattered was that they existed and they were dangerous.

It was, after all, a Regressive race that ended up kidnapping me and destroying my hometown.


	8. Chapter 6: Siren

**Chapter 6: Siren**

_When I first met my muse, I was trying to cheer up some refugees. So many people were coming into my country, Geano, from the Animal Country, and they were way too sad. That just didn't feel right: we were supposed to sing of pleasure and dance intertwined with our husbands, not cry. So, I put on a show for them with a few supporting musicians. I thought I was helping… but what I didn't know was that _he_ would soon come: my bitter-sweet muse of tragedy._

* * *

If I had one crippling weakness aside from my love for Regina, it was my love of music. In happier times before I lost my parents and joined the Order, I dreamed of becoming a bard, or at least a musician. Perhaps it's because I'm a very audio-sensitive person: my ears are more attuned than most humans' and I learn more easily through listening than through reading. More beautiful than any natural wonder is a melody and harmony in tandem. And more clashing than any contrast of colors is the sound of slicing metal and piercing screams.

I learned to tolerate unpleasant noises just as I learned to accept that revenge can never be obtained without innocent bloodshed. But even so, I preferred the sound of laughter to cries of pain, so it's not surprising that I fell so hard for one of the Order's anti-monster lust campaigns: the promotion of the tickling fetish.

Tickling was everything I could possibly desire in a nutshell. It was beautiful and terrible, gentle and cruel, harmless and torturous, innocent and sexual and evil. In short, it took everything I needed yet hated and made it into something glorious. And yet… mamono weren't ticklish. Of course they weren't: that's why the Order was discreetly disseminating tickling pornography throughout its territory and among its ranks. Who would willingly submit to the Mamono Lord's sexual paradise… if it went against their sexual desires?

* * *

"What are you?"

"…I am an angel of the Chief Deity."

"What is the mission you've been given?"

"…To… to reward holy believers for their faith."

I raised an eyebrow at the angel's hesitation. She was chained up in the trunk inside my tent still wearing the exact same sleeveless green dress she'd been stuck in for weeks. And I was standing over her with my hand on the raised lid.

_Interesting,_ I thought. _She didn't mention delivering messages for the Chief God this time._ "…By what method are you to accomplish your mission?"

I hoped that her answer would change this time. But once again and without hesitation, she gave the exact same answer she'd given every other time I'd asked. "…By granting whatever sinless wish they request of me."

I groaned aloud as I shut the lid. The frustration was amplified by my Rage potion beyond what was justified, but without any other outlet, the best I could do was punch the pillow on my bed and pet my Shetland Sheepdog to try and calm myself down. Three weeks in the Mamono Realm and still the angel was pure. I wished I could say the same about most of the other prisoners, but aside from the youngest children, they had almost all monsterized by now. There was no helping it, though. The angel would be monsterized when it was monsterized and no sooner.

With yet another loud groan, I started packing up my equipment for the new day's journey.

* * *

"Not that I'm not enjoying this, but you do know that I said 'I want to ride you,' not 'I want to ride _with_ you,' right?" Despite the complaint from the person sitting behind me on the horse, the massive tail wrapped around us as well as the tone of her voice told me she wasn't really upset with the current situation. Nor was I, really; it was very cold in this region somewhere in the Northland continent, and the huge, bushy tail was both comfortable and warm.

Turning my head around slightly, I responded, "Yes, I'm aware. But you should also have been aware that we were mere seconds away from heading out. …You didn't really expect me to stop and have sex right then and there, did you? Because if so, you don't know me very well."

I felt both the arms about my waist and the tail about my body tighten a little. "…No, you're right. I just really wanted to be close to you for a while, even if we weren't having sex."

I raised my eyebrows at that. Something about Spring's tone suggested to me that something was weighing on her mind. And, considering this was _Spring_, that was abnormal. "Well? Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"…It's just… I don't know… The Werewolves…"

…Oh. Of course, that made sense. I should've known this conversation was coming. Spring was the first one to learn of Grava's past—in fact, she was the one to discover it—and now here she was, placed in charge of Grava's understandably unhappy Bloodwolf "children." It's only natural she would be distraught.

"They're… very helpful, of course. Thanks to them, I know pretty much everything there is to know about everything within 5km at all times. But… I feel really… awkward about it," she continued, and as if on cue, one of the six Werewolves suddenly called out to us.

I turned my head forward and slowed my horse as much as I could in the middle of the caravan. The wolf came sprinting to us from father ahead in the caravan, and while running alongside us quickly on just her two legs, she started reporting to Spring. "My lady, Loraine and I saw the next Gate up ahead, just another 2km away."

I heard a professional stiffness in the Ratatoskr's reply. "Very good. And the other side? Did you check to see if it's safe?"

"No, my lady. Loraine is investigating now. I came back to report before entering the portal."

"Understood. Go meet up with her; we'll wait for your next report on this side." After the Werewolf nodded and ran back out of earshot, Spring started speaking to me again. "Did you hear that? 'My lady'? I feel like a bully every time they call me that."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Why don't you just ask them to stop? No, wait, don't answer that. I told you to make sure they respect your authority, didn't I?"

I felt Spring rest the side of her head against my back, and I could've sworn I also felt a little wetness on her cheek. "Yeah, you did. It's… hard. Couldn't we just… ask them nicely?"

Could we? Sure. Would it work? Not anymore, and even if I'd done that straight from the beginning, I couldn't trust their loyalty to me that way. But how would I explain that to Spring, the one mamono who has trusted me completely since I tamed her?

"I guess that's a dumb question, isn't it?" She continued on when I didn't answer. "I get it; it's too late to be nice. I just wish… it could've been different."

…Ahhh, damn it. Why was I feeling _guilty_ all of a sudden? Was I really getting that much of a soft spot for Spring? "…These people—the Bloodwolves—have the potential to be dangerous. I know it's unpleasant, but I concluded they could not be trusted to remain peaceful if left to their own devices. Better for them to be bound in service, I think. That may not make what we're doing okay, but at least we can keep them in check without killing them. …Of course, if I had simply chosen to kill Grava in the first place, the other six would have never existed. Should I have done that?"

Spring's hold on me loosened as she jerked back on the saddle. "No, of course not." Then, as she slowly retightened her hold on me, I heard her struggle to speak for a few seconds. "They… if they… I mean, if you… say that they're dangerous… Well, I still don't want them _dead_. …This… this is better. I think."

I lifted one hand off my horse's reigns and stroked her tail reassuringly. "There, there. Be strong. I have faith in your abilities." So I said, but I was very careful not to elaborate on which abilities I had faith in or whether it was positive or negative faith. Because I honestly didn't know if she could handle this burden.

Spring fell silent after that, and while I was still grateful for her tail staving off the cold, I was beginning to wish I could convince her to travel separately. At the very least, I wanted to lighten the mood. So when we arrived at the Gate about 30 minutes later and saw no sign of the Bloodwolf scouts, I initially felt as though that just wasn't going to happen. But when they finally came back through and delivered their reports…

"A SIREN?!"

It was not anger. I yelled out of pure excitement. And it startled everyone nearby and left me feeling quite embarrassed. "Uh… I mean, that's excellent news! Siren's are…" I found myself unable to put my thoughts into words because of how flustered I was after my outburst.

Spring was the one who spoke my mind aloud. "You want a Siren," she said flatly.

"I want a Siren," I repeated back to her.

There was a sigh behind my back followed by a chuckle. "Here we go again."

* * *

_He came through the Gate and listened in during one of my less popular songs: "A Devil Went Down to Geano." I guess he liked it, though, because he pushed his way past all the mating couples to the concession stand I was resting at after the concert was over and praised me for my performance._

_He had curly blonde hair, brown eyes, and a fair face. He wore a sweater and jeans which both looked too warm for the beach. "A visitor from Deleia, eh?"_

_He looked taken aback. "Deleia…? Oh! No, I'm a wanderer. I was just passing through that country." His voice was in the baritone/bass range and quite melodious. He could be a decent singer himself._

_"__Well, take off your shirt, at least," I said, walking over to a table to take a drink. "It's way too hot over here for all those clothes."_

_He didn't take off his shirt. Instead, he changed the subject. "That was 'A Devil Went Down to Geano' at the end there, wasn't it? I recognize it. A bard in my hometown used to sing it. It was always my favorite."_

_"__No way, really?" He nodded. "It was my favorite too before I was monsterized. I modified it to make it sexier, but… it just doesn't fit anymore. Johnny still wins the golden fiddle instead of the Devil's heart? My audience doesn't like that."_

_"__Well, that makes sense," he said with a shrug. "Personally, I still enjoy it. The original version, I mean, where John the bard defeats the evil, man-eating Devil at his own contest. I always thought it was beautiful—the kind musician winning the day."_

_Huh. I liked that about it too. Of course, that was back when I cared about stuff like good and evil. But those things didn't matter anymore. Sex was what's important, and everything else was extra. Still, I was happy to find a man who understood the song the same way I did. …Maybe this guy could be my soulmate?_

_"__I'm travelling with a tribe of orcs right now. Could I ask you to perform a concert for them on the other side of the Gate?"_

* * *

"CHAIN BIND!"

* * *

Some time after meeting the Siren, known by the stage-name Melody, I had her chained up in my tent. Several of my wives—Kal'lra, Spring, Tinkler and Ava—were here as well, along with the Bloodwolf cub Grava. There was a reason for this; it was high time I begin to indoctrinate them—all of them—into my methods. Spring had already shown her willingness when I married Tinkler. Now it was time for the others to do the same.

"Here we go again," the Ratatoskr said for the second time today, though I noticed a smile on her face. She was probably hoping she would get some extra sex during the process like she did when she helped with Tinkler. Well, who knew? Maybe she would. I didn't really have this session as thoroughly planned out yet.

The green-haired gremlin spoke up next, sitting on her throne and admiring her nails disinterestedly. "You didn't say anything about wanting a Siren before. How is she useful?"

"Music." I said that one word and paused to wait until everyone was looking at me with confusion or at least curiosity. "Music is the gateway to the soul. It resonates with people's subconscious and manipulates their emotions, even without magic. …I'm certain I don't know the full applications of a Siren, but I doubt greatly that she'd be useless."

True statements. Though, I might also have been a bit biased. As I told Grava on the night I made her my student, I hated mamono. Music, on the other hand, I loved, and frankly… I'd been travelling for too long without any. It was starting to get unnerving, and I was quite eager to hear more, even coming out of a Siren's mouth. Besides, if there was any doubt I wanted this Siren specifically, it went away the moment I heard that old childhood favorite of mine. To be blunt, I wanted her simply because I wanted her rather than for some ulterior motive. Not that I didn't _have_ an ulterior motive, but it had become completely secondary at this point.

Turning to the blue-feathered girl in question, I asked, "Speaking of which, what caused this silence of yours? Most in your position would be begging for release right about now. …And I just now noticed the double entendre in that sentence." I heard quite a bit of giggling around me and felt heat rush into my cheeks. _This is just one more reason why I typically censure every phrase that leaves my mouth: the fewer times I say something ridiculous, the more respect I retain._

The Siren in question, who was wearing a cowgirl-style vest and jean-shorts (but no shirt under the vest), gave me a blank look and tilted her head. Then she rolled her eyes to the side as though she were thinking hard and said, "I'm not really sure what to make of all this… I've actually had dreams of being kidnapped and raped by a rabid fan." _Seriously?!_ I tried hard not to let whatever emotion this was show on my face, but in my head, all I could think was that this was the sort of statement only a mamono could say without a hint of shame or hesitation. "However, this is all so sudden, like transitioning from a smooth, legato pianissimo straight into a blaring, staccato fortissimo." I didn't understand half of that sentence. "And in my dreams, the rabid fan wasn't already married soooo… I haven't decided how I feel about this yet."

…I suddenly felt exhausted. This was the first time I'd seen someone behave so lukewarm toward me in years. I supposed I should be grateful for what appeared to be an easy-enough-to-tame Siren, but it just seemed so bizarre to be treated this way. In fact, it reminded me of how I frequently felt when I was first getting used to Kal'lra and the other orcs.

That's right. If I could fake my composure then, I most certainly could now. Putting a thoughtful look on my face, I replied, "I see. Well, rest assured it would please me greatly to help you make up your mind." Then I turned to my other wives and decreed, "Attention! I want this Siren. You may wonder, though, why you should help me break her. Here's my answer: the one who succeeds, I shall have sex with."

"I'm in!" Spring was the first to agree, waving her hand in the air ecstatically. No surprise there; she'd done this before, so she probably thought she had an advantage. Two advantages, perhaps, when you factor in her tickly tail.

"Uh, yes, me too. I'll do my best." Ava the pink-feathered harpy spoke second. Slightly surprising: if I had bet money on the order of the responses, I'd have assumed Kal'lra would agree before Ava. Then again, Ava seemed a bit more desperate to prove herself as the newest of my wives and a member of what the orcs and slaves were starting to call my "inner circle."

"Not interested. One round of sex isn't enough for this deal." Third to speak was Tinkler the gremlin. She cut in just as Kal'lra was opening her mouth and offered a flat refusal.

But I'd anticipated that. "Fair enough," I said, "but even if you won't participate, you should at least stay and watch. It may help you pick up some techniques in preparation for when we deal with the angel. That is to say, if you're scared of losing, gathering intelligence on your rivals' skillsets is important, I suppose."

Tinkler's pointy green ears twitched and her eyes narrowed. "…I see what you're doing. I'm not gonna fall for that."

"Scaredy cat, scaredy cat!" The Ratatoskr suddenly bounced around the green-haired loli, taunting her will all manner of childish chants. "Tinkler can't beat me! Tinkler's a loser! Spring's the ultimate tickler!"

This went on for about thirty seconds. Tinkler closed her eyes, plugged her ears, and frowned deeper and harder until finally banging on her throne and yelling, "Alright, fine! I'll show you! I'll tickle her so bad, that… she uh, she'll… be able to feel it on a molecular level!" I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes. Why did such intelligent monsters still feel the need to act like children? Though, I suppose I shouldn't complain since it worked to my advantage. In fact, I probably owed Spring thanks for her support.

"Wait… 'tickle'?" Melody raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. "That won't work on me. I mean, I used to have really ticklish feet, buuuuttt…" She looked pointedly down at her talons to emphasize the fact that she was no longer human and her former tickle spot no longer existed.

I smiled and waved a hand. "That won't be a problem; you'll soon understand." The confusion on the Siren's face deepened as all the mamono around me nodded and gave various words of vague agreement.

I started to roll up my sleeve when Tinkler suddenly covered her mouth and giggled. "Hey, hairless chest, why don't you just take off your shirt? It'll make things easier. Both with your spells and with sex later." I felt heat rush to my face again. I never should have let her know about my embarrassment over how much less hair was on my chest compared to the rest of my body; the nickname "hairless chest" had become her favorite tease. It wasn't even an accurate taunt: I might have had less than I wanted, but my chest was not _that_ lacking!

After a moment's hesitation, I decided I didn't want to give the little mad-scientist the satisfaction of seeing me refuse like a shy child at the public bath house. "…True enough. I shall take your advice." And with that, I lifted the bottom of my sweater and heaved it over my head. I could practically feel my wives devouring me with their eyes and then wondered whether this really was any better than the alternative. Oh well.

Refocusing on the Siren, I raised my right hand, and the tattoos on my arm glowed. "SENSITIZE!" Melody's body, restrained upright with her talons chained to the ground and her wings chained to two poles on either side of her, also glowed for a moment, and then both lights faded. "Alright," I declared, "that should adjust your ticklishness throughout the main portion of your upperbody, from your armpits down to your thighs."

The blue-feathered bird-girl dropped her head a bit and looked up at me with raised eyebrows. "Really? Huh, that's new." …Was that really all she had to say? Not "Please don't tickle me," or "I don't want to be tickled," or even just, "This won't be fun?" Just "That's new?" Well, she would be singing a different tune by the time I was… No, wait, I couldn't think like that. Now was the time for my wives to show their tickling skill, not I.

With that thought in mind, I turned once more to the menagerie of monster girls behind me and said, "She's yours to break for me. I only ask that you take turns and switch out every 5 minutes so that we may determine a clear victor for this contest."

"Me first!" Spring bounded over to the Siren with her fingers outstretched, but another hand grabbed her huge, mostly-brown chipmunk tail and pulled her back.

"Hold on!" It was Kal'lra, having finally found her time to step in apparently. "I want to go first too!"

Leaving my wives to sort out the turn order on their own, I walked over to my bed and sat down next to Regina to enjoy the show and pet my dog. Just a couple seconds later, though, I was confronted with a blank-faced head topped with rusty red hair and a wolf's ears. "I don't care about this. Can I leave?"

I responded to Grava the werewolf cub with a shake of my head and a wave of my hand. "I understand you have no interest in the reward I offered my wives, but you should learn my… persuasion methods anyway. It may help you learn a bit about…" I bit my tongue and chose my next words carefully, realizing that several of my wives had sharper hearing than a human such as I. "…learn… about how to coerce unwilling people to do what you want. If you ever hope to get what you desire, then you need to learn to control people, and simply listening to my lessons will not do that; you need to practice as well."

The werewolf growled and looked away. "Tickling works for you because you have magic. …And you can marry them. It doesn't work for me."

"Maybe not," I conceded, "but the fundamental aspects of all persuasion methods are basically the same. Learning one will help you understand another. Besides, if you want to remain here where you can observe me, then you also need to work for me. So this is an order: you will participate in tickling the Siren when your turn comes. Understood?"

Grava growled again and the hair on her tail stood up. After a moment though, she looked me in the eyes and said, "…Okay, fine."

I nodded and turned my attention back to the others. "Rock, paper, scissors!" A cheer and a groan and the turn order was decided, apparently. I nearly sighed out loud. Of course they would end up using that silly method to resolve their dispute; it was just the sort of action they'd take. Effective, but not particularly inspired or impressive. The turn order ended up being Spring, Tinkler, Ava, Kal'lra, and finally Grava, who neither participated in the Rock-Paper-Scissors game nor really cared about going last.

Seeing the Ratatoskr bounce over to Melody's side, I smirked. _Now then,_ I thought, _show me what you've learned so far._

* * *

_"__Me first!" The girl who looked most like an animal stepped forward. I didn't know her species at the time, but she looked like a chipmunk, and her voice chittered a bit like one too. She was cute, but her tail was way too big for her to be good at dancing, and her tone was decent but it didn't really have star quality. If she were in a band, she'd probably be playing an instrument of some sort, something that would accent her childish charm… Marakas maybe?_

_…__What? You think I should've been more worried? Well… you're probably right, but at the time, I didn't see what the big deal was. They were going to tickle me? So what? Even if they did, it wouldn't be so bad, right? It might even be fun! _

_And then her little fingers dug into my stomach. "Ah! …Mmmaahaha! Ooahahahaha!" It felt so bouncy and tingly, like she was trying to play me like a piano or a banjo or something. Funny, I'd never thought about it like that before… probably because I'd never been tickled as a Siren until now._

_"__Eheehee, tickle, tickle! Does it tickle here? Here? Here?" She accented each word by changing her tempo and style. At the time, I thought it was masterful; I felt like I could both feel and hear the tickling resonating through my body. But it wasn't really torturous—a little uncomfortable perhaps, but also fun. What I didn't realize was that this was just the slow movement in a much longer symphony of tickling._

* * *

It took me a minute to understand what I was seeing. Spring's tickling seemed so amateurish that I wanted to slam my fist into my forehead in frustration, push her out of the way, and show her how it is done. But I held my temper back with growing lust and forced myself to let the event play out. And as I continued watching, I realized something.

"Coochie, coochie, coo! The little birdie is so tickly! Sing for me little birdie!"

"Oohoohoohoo, ahaha, youhoohoohoor really goohoohood!"

It was all the tickle-talk that clued me in. Teasing and taunts can enhance the experience for the 'lee, but I never used that tactic on Spring before. As I wondered where she got the idea to use that, I finally understood what she was doing. Rather than aiming to break Ava quickly with a targeted, intense tickle assault, Spring was using rhythmic taunts and strokes to get inside the Siren's mind. Sirens are musical creatures by nature, so Spring was taking advantage of that. If my theory was correct then… the Ratatoskr's next move would be…

"ACK! Whahahahat?! Whahahahat wahahahas thahahahaht?!"

"Oopsie, did that surprise you? Then how about—"

"EEK!"

"Oh, I did it again."

I smirked as I petted the sheltie resting her head on my lap. Spring was messing with the Siren's mind by throwing in a few "off-rhythm" tickles here and there. What a fascinating strategy to get under the singer's skin. I certainly wouldn't have thought of it. I might enjoy music, but I didn't know enough about it to consider how to incorporate musical theory into my tickling style. But Spring, with her wealth of accumulated knowledge, had developed a strategy specifically tailored for musically-minded ticklees. Very cunning, but…

* * *

_I'd made a mistake. This girl wasn't playing a piano; she was rapping. "Tickle, tickle, cootchie coo. I'ma gonna tickle you. Nuthin' 'bout it can you do. Tickle, tickle, cootchie coo." Her voice was getting closer and closer to a song every second. But her hands—Oh hell, her hands!—they were getting less and less predictable. At first every single syllable was a stroke, a wiggle, a poke, or something like that at least. But her movements slowly became less and less synchronized, and now she wasn't even trying; she was just scratching my ribs and stomach randomly._

_Somehow, that made it much, much worse. Was I just annoyed? Or was tickling less pleasant when it was discordant? I didn't know, and honestly, I'm still not sure. What I did know was that I didn't like this anymore. I didn't plan on begging though—I didn't plan on giving them that satisfaction. …And besides, when the chipmunk suddenly flipped her tail around my armpits and chest and started shaking it, I was laughing too hard to say anything anyway._

_"__AHAHAHAHAHA W-W-WAIAHAIHAIHAHAHAHA!"_

_I was trying to say "Wait." I wanted a break, just long enough to catch my breath and D.C. (Oh, that's Siren slang for "rethink." You know, like how D.C. means go back to the beginning of the song? …You didn't know that? Well… then I'll just resume.) Anyway, as it turned out, I didn't need to tell her to stop because just a few seconds after she started vibrating her tail against me, the baritone said, "Time's up!"_

* * *

Spring was not happy about being ousted from her role. "Ah, come on! I was just getting to the good part!"

Yes, I could tell. But this was intended to be a fair competition, and Spring had wasted her limited time on a long-term strategy. "Nope, time's up. You can ask her if she's giving up now, but if she says 'No,' you need to let Tinkler take her turn."

"W-(pant)-wait (pant) a second. (pant) Let me (pant) think." Melody responded to my statement before Spring could, and after a moment, she said, "Okay, quick question: if I _did_ marry you, would I have to go through stuff like that on a regular basis?"

I was unable to respond right away as I mulled over the question. Did she mean being tortured, or just tickling as a fetish? Before I had decided how to answer, a chorus of responses came from the rest of my wives.

"Yes."

"Oh yes."

"Uh-huh."

"Yeah."

"…(nod)"

…I'm not sure why, but that annoyed me somehow.

The braless girl in the (now disheveled) vest closed her eyes and nodded. "I see… Okay, I've made up my mind." There was a chorus of surprised responses, as we all thought she was saying she'd join us, but Melody shook her head and said, "No, no, no, no, I'm not joining this band. I've decided I'd rather take my chances seducing whichever of my fanboys comes to rescue me from the mean ol' kidnapper."

The room went silent for a moment. The first one to speak again was Tinkler. "Well, guess that means the pet failed," she said, sticking out her tongue at the end. I know I just critiqued Spring in my mind for using a faulty idea, but hearing Tinkler making fun of her made me want to defend my favorite wife's dignity. Though, I wasn't sure if that was because of my increasing soft spot for Spring or my ongoing dislike of Tinkler's haughty attitude. Maybe both—an instance of my lust and rage synchronizing their desires.

Either way, the gremlin's actions irritated me enough that I spoke up while the Ratatoskr pouted. "I wouldn't get cocky yet. Your turn's about to start, and our captive songbird has gotten more resistant, not less. …Do you think you'll be able to persuade her in your five minutes?"

The green-haired loli's response was to look directly at me, lower her eyes, widen her grin and proclaim, "Just watch me."

* * *

_The next girl to come forward was a flashy, green-haired loli with a mischievous expression sitting on some bizarre thing I didn't recognize. She looked like the sort of person who would fit right into a rock band… or maybe the person who breaks the mold by inventing new ways to sing, dance and make music. I didn't know what to expect from this person, but if it involved tickling, I hoped it wouldn't be as bad as it was with the last girl._

_"__Siren." The loli monster hovering in front of me stared into my eyes and pulled me out of my thoughts. "A species the lives for music, and especially for singing. I studied up on your kind a bit while my man was off seducing you, and I learned that all of your power comes from magic infused into your voice. You're probably hoping all your laughing will lure in a handsome, dashing rescuer or at least leave the rest of us too sex-crazed to keep going."_

_I shrugged. "Yeah, so what? It's not like you can stop me from laughing, especially while you're tickling me."_

_But the girl—(Oh, for the record, I didn't know her species either)—pointed a finger in my face and said, "Wrong! This tent is soundproof! I should know; I'm the genius who invented the Soundless-o-Matic 1000." While she was talking, the girl had reached a metal tentacle from her hovering chair to a box near the tent flap, brought it over, and placed it on the ground between us. "Nobody outside this tent can hear you. And you know what? If I make a little adjustment…"_

_Then, she hopped down from her seat and started pushing some levers and twisting some nobs. I didn't know what she was doing… until the room when silent. I couldn't hear the whizzing sounds coming from the girl's weird devices or the ruffling of the tent flap or the voice of the girl still speaking to me. The only things I could hear were the beating of my own heart, the air moving in and out of my lungs, and the sound of my feathers ruffling with sudden fear. Aside from that, it was a deafening silence, and it made me feel as though I'd traveled to a world without music._

_"__H-hello?" I spoke quietly, almost afraid I wouldn't hear myself, but my voice sounded extremely loud in the absence of anything else. "W-what? W-w-why are you…?" The little girl didn't answer—she probably couldn't hear me. Instead, her mouth kept moving silently, and she raised her hands and started wiggling her fingers. "Oh crap…" _

_It was like watching the grim reaper from the old legends. The girl slowly reached down to start moving the controls of her hovering chair and the ten tentacles came to life and started moving toward me, and all the while, I couldn't even hear the sound of her jacket rustling. A near-carnal desire for sound—any sound—caused me to start screaming and begging long before she actually touched me. It's kinda funny in hindsight—these girls were supposed to be torturing me with tickling, but the silence was far more torturous and terrifying right now._

_Then the tentacles morphed, the ends opening up to release feathers and… other things… I didn't know what they all were. Until they touched me. That's when my world flipped upside-down._

* * *

Tinkler lived up to the gremlins' sadistic reputation. I couldn't hear Melody's reactions, which was displeasing, but I could certainly see them. The tentacles had opened up to reveal several optimal tools for tickling: feathers, paint brushes, and several metal rods I couldn't identify at the time-Tinkler told me later on that they were "The Vibrating Poky-Prodders mk. 1".

The multitude of tickly items poked and stroked all over the siren's body. Tinkler seemed to have an especial fondness for her belly, as the majority of the tools focused there, with one of the vibrators digging around in her navel. At the same time, though, the gremlin also poured special attention upon the songbird's private regions, occasionally flicking a feather or brush over her nipples or vagina to awaken the girl's sex drive.

It wasn't hard to discern her aim; Tinkler had learned from my technique and was aiming to duplicate it-to leave the siren in desperate denial. At least… that was her intention…

* * *

_At first, it felt like I'd fallen into some kind of Tickle Hell. The girl's evil _thing_ tickled me everywhere: brushing my armpits, feathering my stomach, buzzing my bellybutton. I think what tickled worst was the metal rods buzzing up against my ribcage, and that was what really had me begging. I'm actually kinda lucky she couldn't hear me; she'd have focused all those buzzers on my ribs if she had._

_On the other hand, I couldn't hear anything but my own laughing. It made it so much worse because I knew no one was listening; I couldn't do anything to make it stop, not even beg or surrender. I was trapped. Isolated. It was more lonely than it was unbearable._

_But then… "Ahahaha! ! _Ohh!_" Then the nature of this private concert changed. The ticklish sensations started becoming sensual. It was an occasional touch in the beginning, but the tools slowly started focusing more and more on my nipples, ass, and pussy. _

_It was… How can I put this?... Not exactly "good," but… They went well together. The tickling, as much as I was really learning to hate it, harmonized perfectly with the pleasure to become something… bigger, grander._

_It wasn't long before I could feel a great intensity crescendoing in my body. When one of the rods struck a vibrato cord on my clit, I knew something was about to burst forth. A few seconds later, I reached the climax. A moment later, the world unmuted._

* * *

"No wait!" The warning spilled out of my mouth before I remembered that I wasn't supposed to interfere. Tinkler jumped and looked at me in confusion… right as the siren came.

My mouth hung open for a moment, and then I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "Yo-(sigh)-your turn's over." The gremlin frowned but shrugged and turned off her throne.

While she was doing that, Ava turned off the soundproofing device and started to move it. The sound of Melody's panting quickly filled our ears. "Oh, my! Oh, my gods! That was… I'm not even sure what that was…"

"Weeellll? Do you give up yet?" The bikini-clad scientist seemed quite confident of success as she leaned forward in her throne, her head resting on her fist.

Her confidence… was premature.

"Fuck no! I'm not giving up that easily." The bird-girl kept talking to the shocked loli, but I didn't really listen to the rest of the speech. Instead, I groaned internally, thinking that I should have expected this.

It wasn't surprising, really. If Melody had been left in denial, she would have been more receptive to the offer-desperate for release. But since she'd already _had_ release, the scenario became a tease-a foreshadowing-of what sex with me would be like. And sure, that _might_ appeal to her, but weighed against the cons (such as joining a polygamy, for example) it wasn't enough by itself to sway her decision.

On the other hand, I couldn't really blame Tinkler for her rookie mistake; it's in mamono nature to _bring_ pleasure, not deny it. She probably forgot her original plan partway through due to lust, and there was nothing she could have done to prevent that.

"Alright then, Ava, you're next up." The harpy nodded, then reached down and reactivated the soundproofing.

I did a double-take upon realizing that she hadn't taken the device back to its original position as I'd thought but simply moved it a little further away from her blue-feathered counterpart. Before I could ask why, Ava put the tips of her wings together, bowed a bit and said, "Sorry, but… I'd like to try talking to her privately. Is that okay?"

After a moment's thought, I shrugged and replied, "Use whatever method you think will work." Ava smiled up at me and then stepped through the invisible barrier into a space the rest of us couldn't hear.

* * *

_I started to panic a bit when the world went silent again; honestly I think if they'd left me in solitude like that for a little while, it would've broken me faster than their tickling skills. This time, though, I didn't get left alone in that void; the harpy-(Was she a harpy? I wasn't entirely sure of that.)-entered my… uh, whatever it's called-the soundless area._

_Anyway, I didn't even bother hiding my relief when she entered the space. "Oh, thank the gods. I thought you were going to leave me alone in here again."_

_"__Huh?" The pink-feathered girl blinked and then shook a wing in front of her face. "Oh, no, no. I just wanted to talk with you in private. Uh, hi, I'm Ava."_

_"__Oh, uh, Melody. Pleased to meet you." It felt weird to exchange greetings like this, but it wasn't as though we were enemies or anything._

_"__So, like, I get it, you know?" she started. "It's not exactly ideal, marrying a married man. You couldn't keep him all to yourself that way."_

_"__Exactly!" I interrupted. "It's not like I especially dislike your husband or anything, I just don't want to share my semen with other women."_

_"__Right, right, I get that," Ava said in return. "And the tickling is pretty intense and all."_

_"__Yes!" I responded more enthusiastically than I intended. Somehow, talking to this girl felt natural. Maybe because we were closely related species? "I mean, I don't hate it in small amounts, but I don't think I can imagine having to deal with this much during every round."_

_"__But that's just it!" Her sudden sforzando surprised me. What she said next surprised me even more. "The tickling… by itself, it's torture, but… but when you do it right, it… it makes the sex so much better. You felt it just now, so you know that right?"_

_I bit my lip and mulled over her words. She wasn't wrong; that orgasm the sadist gave me was one of the best ones I'd ever had. But still…_

_Suddenly, while my eyes were unfocused, I felt a fluttering sensation on my vagina. It tickled like crazy… but it also felt so _good_. I looked down to see Ava's pink wing sliding across it like a bow on a violin. "Here," she said gently, "let me help you see how much better sex with Corman can be."_

* * *

I was beginning to wonder what Ava could possibly be doing when the tickling finally began. After all that talking, I had started to think that perhaps she planned to just appeal to her as one bird-girl to another. As it turned out, I was half-right.

When Ava finally put her feathers to use, I didn't need to hear the siren's reactions to know that Ava was employing a completely different tactic than Spring and Tinkler. The two lolis had focused on intensity-trying to make the siren beg for it to stop. Ava took a gentler approach aimed to convince Melody that tickle sex was the best possible way to have sex.

My newest wife slipped the feathers of one wing up and down the cowgirl-singer's slit. She removed her top with one of her talons, and then wrapped the second wing around her back, hugging the siren and pulling her nipples into Ava's chest feathers. She even started kissing Melody, first on the cheeks and then on the lips. To put it bluntly, they were having full-on lesbian sex but with the twist of one girl being ticklishly teased as a side effect of every affectionate thing the other did to her.

Now allowing a prisoner to enjoy herself to this degree was a source of irritation for me, but I couldn't deny this method could work. It reminded me of the good-guard-bad-guard routine or the stick-and-carrot method. Spring and Tinkler had been the bad guards who showed Melody the stick. Now Ava was playing the good guard, offering Melody the carrot.

There was also the added bonus that unlike Tinkler's vibrating rods, Ava's feathers wouldn't allow the siren to cum, meaning that she'd be stuck in denial at the end of the harpy's turn. I didn't think that was Ava's intention, but far be it from me to ruin the effect by alerting her to it.

So I sat there stroking the fur of one dog and one Ratatoskr's tail (I hadn't even noticed that Spring had slipped herself in close to me like that), fixedly watching the show until time ran out.

"Your time's up."

…

"Your time's up!"

…

Belatedly remembering that they couldn't hear me I turned left to ask one of my wives to turn off the machine… only to notice all of the jealous gazes being directed toward me and the smugly smiling Ratatoskr.

"...Spring?"

"Mmm, yes?"

"Could you get Ava's attention for me?"

The chipmunk-girl pouted visibly but dutifully pulled her tail away and walked over to turn off the soundproofing device. "Yo, love birds! Time's up!"

The two feathered girls reluctantly untangled themselves. More accurately, Ava peeled herself off Melody amidst the latter's moaning protests. The Ratatoskr, her task completed ran back over to me, but I stopped her. "No, no, it would be unproductive for this to devolve into an unplanned orgy; please don't make everyone more jealous than they already are."

"Aw, but you were the one who-"

"Ava, report, now." _Change the topic, please!_ There were some things even I couldn't figure out how to deal with, so I internally begged Ava to hurry up and ask the siren for her surrender.

The pink-feathered harpy jumped to attention. "Ah, yes, right. Um, so what do you think? I-it only gets better, you know, when Corman does it." Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Spring and Kal'lra nodding in agreement… and thought Tinkler did as well, but she denies it to this day.

This time, the siren bit her lip, hesitating very visibly. Her legs were trying and failing to rub her herself, and her eyes darted all around as she hummed and hawed. After a few moments (long enough to make me wonder if I should establish a time limit on how long she was allowed to think before we move along) Melody finally said, "No,... no, as tempting as it is, I really don't want a husband I would have to share, so the answer is still no."

I don't know if it was real or merely a figment of my imagination, but I could've sworn on the gods I heard the sound of a gong when Ava's head fell forward. "Haha, that… makes sense. I knew I wasn't going to win this. I guess I'm no good at this stuff."

I wasn't so sure of that; Ava had made Melody much more conflicted than anyone else so far. Even if her method had failed in and of itself, it had certainly lessened the siren's resolve to resist. But then again, my soon-to-be wife had started off indifferent and became more stubborn after we started, so overall progress was still in the negatives. But that was fine-better, in fact. If Melody wanted to resist, then my wives would get more practice. It wasn't as if her defiance would ultimately change her fate anyway.

"Well,... I guess it's my turn." Kal'lra stepped forward slowly. There was a look of deep thought on her face as she analyzed the cowgirl-eque siren; her expression gradually twisted to the point that it seemed she might hurt herself from thinking too hard. I was honestly quite curious to see what she'd come up with; it was difficult for me to picture Kal'lra as a skilled interrogator, but she had as much experience on the receiving end as Spring and Tinkler. If orcs really were more sly than most realized, she might come up with something unexpected.

Finally, after about a minute of just standing there, the pig-eared girl turned back to me and said, "I have a question." Intrigued, I waved for her to continue. And so she asked, "Could I,... is it allowed to ask you to use your spell again?"

There was a sudden hush as though she had said something taboo. I was the one who interrupted it. "Certainly, I'd be glad to."

Almost instantly, there was an uproar. Three of my wives began loudly complaining that this was against the rules while Melody voiced her agreement for completely different reasons. I raised my voice over theirs, declaring, "It's not my fault no one else bothered to ask; I merely tasked you with breaking her. Never did I say you couldn't ask for assistance. So long as no one else joins in the tickling itself, you are allowed to ask for aid."

The grumbling started to die down as I held my arm forward. "Sensitize! Besides, you were supposed to think for yourselves and come up with a plan of your own. Kal'lra did that: she plans to bolster Melody's ticklishness to increase her chances of success. That's just good thinking."

Kal'lra blushed and cast an excited, semi-proud grin at her romantic rivals, but they couldn't argue now that I'd laid down the law. Instead, they just sat back in frustration and watched as the orc turned toward the now-whimpering siren.

* * *

_Okay, I was officially scared of the tickling itself now. Sure, it could feel pretty hot when done right, but I didn't think this orc was planning on being as nice as Ava. And besides that, it was already pretty bad sometimes before the man had used his spell again. I really didn't want to experience a higher intensity tickling. But the only other alternative was to just give in and marry the guy. To be fair, I was beginning to think that fate was unavoidable, but well, I didn't want to admit that. _Maybe if I can make it long enough, my fans back on Geano's beach will wonder what happened and come here looking for me,_ was the hope I was banking on. So I stubbornly resolved myself to bear with it until I could bear it no more. _

_The orc girl, a tall and chubby cutie who I couldn't really imagine onstage except maybe as a drummer or tuba player, slowly reached out and started massaging my stomach. She didn't really seem to know what to do and just let her hands drift around slowly at first as though she were petting me. But even that tickled much more than it should have. I sucked in a breath and struggled with every rub to keep the giggles from pouring out. _

_I… didn't hold it in for very long. "Mweeheehee! Mm, mm, mmmeeheehee!" The busty woman seemed to take that as a cue to crescendo. She started wiggling her fingers hesitantly, but the sensation multiplied tremendously, my body spasming like a rabid fan at a rock concert. This was just from casting the spell a second time? I couldn't stop laughing already and she was barely trying! _

_"This is… kinda fun." She giggled a bit too, and then looked up above her fingers. She started staring at my chest, a small-end B-cup size, and for the first time, her face twisted into a wicked grin._

* * *

It took Kal'lra a few moments to really get into the tickling. When she did, I was half-turned-on, half-chagrined. Apparently, Kal'lra's style as a tickler, aside from being the sort to increase her target's ticklishness, could be summarized very simply.

"Haha, how do ya' like that?! Dern tramps comin' in and seducin' mah husband wit' yo'r small tits, well I'll just tickle dem small tits! Take this, and this, and this!"

"NAHAHAHA! LEAVE THEM ALOHOHOHOHONEHAHAHAHA!"

Go for the boobs. That was her strategy in a nutshell, and as much as I wanted to facepalm, I could appreciate why that was: a combination of me focussing on her oversized boobs during sex and her finding an outlet for her heretofor well-restrained jealousy of my smaller-chested wives. Said wives were all covering their own chests nearby, probably making mental notes to self with faces ranging from heavily panting blushes to pale-faced fear. Even Grava, expressionless though she was, sat down on the ground and hugged her knees in front of her chest.

I was so utterly overwhelmed by this that I wanted to bury my face in my hands indefinitely. On the one hand, I felt like I should scold the ex-chieftain for losing focus on the goal and just going hog wild. On the other, this was, in a sense, what I had trained her to do, and I couldn't blame her for that. It was, embarrassingly, my own fault for choosing to focus where I did during our sessions together and noticeably favoring smaller bodies over larger ones in front of her.

Oh well; it probably wouldn't be a problem in the long term. The reason I was having my wives do this now was precisely in order to gauge their ability and deduce where they might require some training. The fact that Kal'lra had developed a favorite spot to tickle and was capable of enjoying it to the point where her accent slipped was better to know now rather than later, and that passion was not a bad thing in-and-of-itself, it just needed some tweaking to make it more effective as torment and less of a mere self-indulgence. Such were my thoughts. But then the situation reversed course. It was the other girls' gasps followed by a change in the tone of the siren's laughter that pulled me out of my thoughts.

* * *

_I could barely hear the orc mumbling an accompaniment to my "singing": something about it not being enough. And then, I moaned between giggles. The busty babe had surprised me by bending down, sticking out her tongue and licking my breast. She slid it all around, leaving a trail of saliva in its wake, and it felt wonderful, but shockingly enough, it still tickled, maybe even more than her fingers. _

_Oh, her fingers hadn't stopped playing-she moved them over to the side, digging into the spot where the breasts meet the armpits. But still, it felt as though yet another new instrument had been added to this symphony, one that tickled and turned me on at the same time. It was slick and wet and oh so incredibly different. And when she reached my nipple and started sucking... Ahhh, I was in heaven._

_...I really wish she hadn't misled me like that…_

* * *

_I'mnotlookingI'mnotlookingIsitoveryetPleaseletitbeoverBloodyhellwhyyyyyy?!_ My eyes were clamped shut and my fingers were in my ears trying and failing to drown out the sounds of Slime in the background. I could feel someone tap my shoulder and saw a shadow pass up and down through my eyelids, but I refused to respond until I finally snapped them open, practically jumped to my feet and yelled, "TIME'S UP!" loudly enough to hurt my own ears.

Then I looked around, almost everyone seemed a tad stunned at my behavior. Spring and Ava were right next to me looking concerned. Kal'lra snapped to attention, drooling a bit with a slightly crazed light slowly leaving her eyes as she became aware of my displeasure. And the bound siren looked on in a state of flushed confusion. Even Grava a short distance off raised her eyebrows in a clear display of emotion.

The only exception to this was Tinkler, who laughed uproariously and proceeded to mock me in the most frustrating way possible. "Oh my Lord, you're face! Hahahaha! That reaction was priceless! Hahahahaha! I'm dying here!"

"Shut up!" I lashed out in a most childish manner, which only caused me to feel more embarrassed and the gremlin to laugh louder, practically falling out of her throne in the process.

A meek voice intervened here. "Um… Did I… do something wrong?" Kal'lra had her hands clasped in front of her and her head half-bowed, though her face was also flushed and she was panting heavily.

She looked like she could barely contain herself but also suspected she was about to be scolded at the same time. How was I supposed to respond to this? "You… I mean, technically it's… Your idea was innovative and not without merit, to be sure, it's just…" I fumbled over my words for the longest time in months before Tinkler took it upon herself to answer on my behalf.

"OML, you guys didn't know?! Corman gets all squeamish when the tongues come out." She stuck her tongue out at me for emphasis, and then cupped a hand to her cheek and squirmed lewdly around where she sat. "He gets as tame as a thoroughly disciplined puppy dog if you lick him long enough. It's-"

"CHAIN BIND!" I tried to make the gremlin stop by tying her up, but Tinkler must have anticipated I'd try that because her reaction was instantaneous. The moment my arm shot out and I started to say the words, the scientist thrust a lever to the side and her throne swerved left. It was a well-executed dodge; the slight delay between when I aimed the spell and when it activated caused the chains to target the person who, until an instant prior, had been standing on the other side of Tinkler and bind her instead. Grinding my teeth in frustration, I rounded on the still smirking loli. "One more sentence about that, and I'm going to make you my tickle toy for the rest of the week!"

I had the satisfaction of seeing the snarky dominatrix's smile faulter and her toes scrunch up before the rest of the females in the room began speaking. Spring was the first. "Really? I mean, I knew that my darling doesn't like to use his tongue or be licked, but I didn't think that included just _watching_. I mean, you didn't seem disturbed when Reggie-"

"Don't use the dog as an example! Reggie doesn't count!"

Ava was second. "So even _you're_ scared of something small? That's kind of a relief."

"That's not… I mean, I don't… Look, it's disgusting, okay? It turns me off." I tried to say it didn't scare me at all, but of course, I knew that would be a lie, so I used a flimsy loophole that sounded more like an excuse than a denial.

Melody was third. "So you wouldn't do that to me if I married you?"

"No, veto, never."

"Well that's a minor chord. I almost changed my mind there." To add insult to embarrassment, if I _had_ been the sort to enjoy a bit of mouth-to-breast, that apparently would've been enough to win over the cowgirl bird then and there. My own paranoia had messed up Kal'lra's victory.

And speaking of Kal'lra, she… well… "Everything I do turns him off. I can't believe I started sucking her nipples in front of the chief. My boobs are too big. I'm the most worthless person here. I don't deserve to be his wife." She'd collapsed to the ground and started verbally abusing herself a while ago. Apparently the mere shock of realizing just how much I disliked her technique was enough to instantly drag her down from her semi-crazed state into one of total depression. It was incredibly pitiable, and heated though I was, I still felt as though I should reassure her that this incident was far more my own fault than hers.

Before I had cooled off enough to do so, however, an aura of doom filled the tent, or so it seemed. Where exactly that sensation came from, I'm not certain, but if I had to guess, I would say that all at once, we all subconsciously became aware of who hadn't spoken yet and turned to look at her.

Grava was _pissed_.

My effort to use "CHAIN BIND!" on Tinkler had caught the Bloodwolf instead. And although her face was as expressionless as always and the sight of the loli cub cuffed and spread in an X was a sexy sight to behold, she exuded the impending sense of a volcano about to erupt. A snarl slipped through her voice when she spoke. "...Hey. I think it's my turn."

* * *

_The last girl to come up… I mean, well, objectively, she was adorable. She looked like she'd make a great child idol,… and yet… there was something so very _wrong_ about her. I could practically hear the clanging of alarm bells, the screeching of nails on a chalkboard, and the grating _shkring_ of metal grating against metal in the back of my head when I just glanced at her. It felt like there was no music in her soul-no, worse than that-like her heart held nothing but discordancy and cacophony. _

_Her outer appearance and behavior, though, was like a silent void. She barely spoke at all, and when she did, there was a cold and empty inflection to her voice, which should've been quite melodious. "Corman… Do it again."_

_Behind her sitting on the bed, my kidnapper blinked and asked, "Pardon? Do what again?" In response, the girl simply pointed a sharp-looking claw at his right arm. "...Oh. Ah, I see, the spell. Very well, then; __SENSITIZE!__" My body glowed again, and this time, I felt a difference. My vest was starting to feel tickly and even the air felt a bit weird now. _

_The fact that I was apparently even more ticklish now than when that schizophrenic orc tickled me was already enough to make me nervous, but what really terrified me was when the red wolf girl reached her paws toward my stomach. She stopped before touching me, however, and stared at her claws. "...Wait…" Her face suddenly scrunched up, letting some confusion and anger leak out. After standing there for a moment, she looked back at the other girls, glancing from one to another until she finally stopped and stared right at the chipmunk girl. "...Oh…"_

_Having reached a decision of some sort, the wolf cub lowered her claws and lifted her tail instead. It was too small to reach around her body, so she turned to the side and started brushing the tail against my stomach. It. Was. Torture! Seriously. I'd never laughed so hard before, and she was just wagging her tail a little bit. The only reason I even could laugh was because my lungs weren't human lungs anymore; if they still were, I'd have passed out pretty quickly. But mamono are sturdier than humans, and we sirens have particularly good lung capacity so that we can sing all day. Ever since I was monsterized, I have never been upset with how I could breath so well, but now I wished my lungs were small again so I could just run out of air and pass out like a Tuba player in a comic strip. It only lasted a few seconds, but it felt a lot longer. And then she stopped, looked back at the man, and said, "Again."_

* * *

_For someone who didn't want to do this, Grava is very… brutal._ The situation grew gradually worse for Melody as time dragged on. Grava had apparently decided that the best way to torture the siren was to have me use "Sensitize!" on her again, and again, and again. I would say that I almost pitied her, but honestly… "Darling?... You've got a scary smile on your face…" I loved it. Every single second of it. And despite my efforts to remain stoic, my wives could see the truth quite clearly. Though, I wouldn't really say that Spring was complaining: if anything she was flirting. They knew how turned on I was and had high hopes that I would turn that passion on them.

With much hesitation, I forced myself to drink a Rage/Purify potion-which had very little effect in this case-and gazed on at the Bloodwolf's technique. Grava had rightly realized from the start that her claws-recently sharpened to make them as deadly as possible-were not really suited to tickling. If she'd tried, she probably would've sliced a scar into the siren, and that was not what I wanted. So she'd thought hard about what the other girls before her had done and realized that, just like Spring, she had a tickly tail at her disposal. What really impressed me, however, was that as the session dragged on, Grava eventually realized that she could also use the back of her paw-hands like fuzzy brushes. She incorporated fear-tactics into an already torturous experience by showing off how easily she could slice open Melody's skin; she easily yet painlessly cut several feathers off Melody's wings and then wielded them against her. Throughout it all, Grava would pause and say, "Again," to me, signaling that she wanted to make the songbird even _more_ ticklish, and I, of course, obliged.

No spot was spared. No mercy was shown. And when I called time up, the blue-feathered girl was laughing so hard it took several minutes for her just to recover and say anything. "I-hahahahaha, I surrehehehender! I gihihihive up! Fine, fine!" (**Author's Note**: that's not the English word "fine," it's a musical notation pronounced fee-nay, meaning "End.")

That was all I needed to hear. I was so horny, I couldn't restrain myself. And, for the record, neither could anyone else in the room other than Grava. But going into detail about the sexual orgy that ensued would require another five pages to fill, so that tale shall have to wait for another day. Sufficeth to say that when all was said and done, we were all lying on the ground inside the tent-including Melody and excluding Grava-thoroughly nude and satisfied. I had a pair of wings wrapped around me from either side, two loli bodies lying half-on-top of me, and one orc gripping my legs as if she were both cuddling them and afraid I would run away if she didn't.

However, we couldn't stay like that forever. Turning to my right to view the owner of the newest pair of wings in the tribe, I said, "Apologies for this, but I'm afraid I need to bind you again."

"...Oh no." Melody attempted to crawl out of the pile of bodies and escape, but my other wives, sensing that this night was apparently still young and that there may be even _more_ sex in the not-too-distant future if they helped me have some more fun at the siren's expense, quickly pounced on her and pulled her into an ideal position. Though to be fair, Melody was only half-struggling, having accepted that, like it or not, she was stuck living the life of a ticklish sex toy now. In fact, she even started rhyming with humorously excessive melancholy when she failed to escape. "Oh, no, what shall I do? I can't avoid getting tickled by all of you! This torture won't be very fun, but at least I know I'll get good cum."

"I'm glad to see you're getting into the spirit of things," I responded, peeling myself off the ground and half-crawling to my desk, "but there's no need to be so melodramatic. I promise this will be the last time I will be so undeservedly and undesirably cruel to you during the course of our travels." I opened a drawer, pulled out another vial of Rage/Purify and, upon regaining some composure, stood up to full height. "However, I simply _must_ provide feedback on everyone's performance today. To do that, it would be best to demonstrate what was done well, what wasn't, and how they could have done better. In short… it's my turn." And I'm sure you'd like for me to explain further what happened during my turn and beyond, but to do so would require another _ten_ pages to fill, so I shall leave it to your imaginations.

For the record, lest any of you reading this account should ever desire to ask what ever happened to the reward for the winner… Well, we'll get around to that eventually, but for now, sufficeth to say I had forgotten all about it. But she wouldn't…

* * *

_We were all together in that tent all night. By the time it was over, I was totally sick of being tickled but also couldn't imagine having sex without it anymore. And besides that, Corman, my muse, just seemed so dreamy. I used to wonder why mamono said that once you fall in love, nothing else matters. Now I understood; they meant it literally. Being tickled, tortured, practically raped, getting married by force, and even joining a harem: I didn't care about any of that. I mean, I didn't exactly _like_ it, but I also… I just, really, really wanted to sing for him, have sex with him and make him happy. Everything it took to bring me here didn't matter because love just makes you crazy, you know?_

_But as days and weeks turned into months, I eventually started to see just how unhappy, my husband truly was. I wrote song after song, lyric after lyric designed to cheer him up, and they worked a bit, but deep down, he was always angry, always paranoid, and hiding beneath it all, always sad. Eventually, my songs also became more and more sad, and I made a promise to myself that one day, I would make my muse cry-make him let out and let go of all the pain he was holding onto. I made that promise, but I wasn't sure I could keep it._

* * *

**That same day in a country eight days travel behind the orc caravan, five armored individuals arrived before a Gate on horseback. They had deduced based on the carnage wrought on the Order's soldiers in two different locations exactly which Gate a certain traitorous Hero had escaped through. And so they rode with reckless abandon deeper into the Mamono Realm. They traveled light and rode swiftly. Night and day, they tracked and chased after him. It wouldn't be long, they thought. Soon they would catch up to and kill him. And so, with that thought in mind, they rode through the Gate, continuing their pursuit. Heedless of the dangers. **

**And heedless of the man's ****_other_**** pursuer**


	9. Chapter 7: Angel

**Chapter 7: Angel**

_I'm supposed to tell you about when I first met him, but you already know all about how he fucked me over that day. I was sent to give him a reward, and he was all, "Great, I'll take you!" and the next thing I knew I was wrapped up in chains, tossed in a trunk and dragged all over the place. Every so often, he would cast that ancient magic spell on me, and when I realized why he was doing it,... Well, I didn't use swear words back then, but if I did, I would've said, "Fffuuuccckkk me!" _

_Being locked up in that box was torture by itself. I could hear him outside the trunk doing all kinds of shit. All the times he tickle tortured someone until they married him? Heard it. That time he murdered one person and brainwashed the Abnormal? Heard that too. And I knew it was only a matter of time before he did something unpleasant with me-something involving tickling-but I had no idea why. He seemed to have a plan that was more convoluted than just having me marry him, but I couldn't fathom what it was._

_What I didn't know-couldn't have known-was that he would be the one to show me the light. He would be the one to instruct me in the way of the New Gospel and all the glories and hells it contained. Who is this man? Once, I just saw him as the fucker who kidnapped me. Now, he is my God. A God of Love. A God of Hate. A God of Laughter. A God of Mercilessness. A God of Sensuality. A God of Denial. A God both of Heaven and of Hell._

_He is… My God of Tickling._

* * *

During my time with the Order, I studied the pantheon of the gods thoroughly for various reasons, though reverence was not one of them. During my studies, however, I hit upon two inconsistencies that no one could or would explain to me.

Of the two, the one that interested me the most was who exactly the Fallen God was. Despite the fact that her identity can by no means be a secret to the gods, for some reason all knowledge of it was being hidden from the mortal realm. This was not merely because of the Order's influence; the Mamono Lord seemed to be intentionally keeping that information off the record as well. This struck me as odd considering that the two groups would never coordinate such a thing. The only way this might happen… would be if the Fallen God's identity was something neither side was comfortable allowing mortal man to know.

I went through a period of obsession because of this, thinking that perhaps the key to ultimate power I required lay in the Fallen God. Thus, I studied the pantheon, analyzed even the oldest legends to learn about gods that most today don't even know were ever worshiped. And eventually, I formed a theory...

* * *

"What are you?"

"…I am an angel of the Chief Deity."

"What is the mission you've been given?"

"…To reward holy believers for their faith."

"…By what method are you to accomplish your mission?"

"…By… By… By giving them… the most… joyous experience a man can have."

"Which is?"

"… … … Sex."

* * *

A smirk came over my face as I stared down at the Angel in my trunk. "Finally."

I stood with my arms folded in the center of a line arrayed against the angel. She'd been stripped of her green dress and underwear and was chained up just as Tinkler was when I first recruited her, which is to say, sitting in her throne tied to several of its tentacles. Right next to me on the left, the gremlin started chuckling. "I almost feel bad for her; this is going to drive her crazy."

"Would you rather take her place?" I asked with a smirk and a shrug.

"Nooooo, thank you!"

Next to me on the right, Kal'lra had her arms folded and her expression was twisted in a frown. "But you said… you ain't gonna marry her right? So why…?" she half-mumbled.

"Yeah, I don't get that either." Spring, standing between Tinkler and Ava also spoke up, smiling but also shaking her head. "It looks like the same setup as always to me. Minus the fact that your newest favorite wasn't invited."

I understood their confusion of course. As far as she knew, what came next was what had come several times before already. The angel would be tickled, tickled, and tickled some more until she agreed to marry me, with some sex thrown in for good measure, wouldn't she? That was how this whole thing worked, wasn't it? But in that case, why did I not ask Melody to join us? She was certainly no stranger to my methods after what happened in that cold country next to the gate. Why did I only invite these five into the session?

In response to their questions, spoken and unspoken alike, I merely shook my head. "I'm not willing to spoil the surprise about how this will all end yet. As for Melody... I worry she might be a conscientious objector to something this extreme at this stage, so she'll sit this one out." The phrase "conscientious objector" undoubtedly raised some red flags for those in the room who understood it, so I decided now would probably be the best time to distract them with the main event. "But enough chatter; it is time to begin. Tinkler, would you do the honors?"

"With pleasure." Tinkler's sadistic smile was at maximum malevolence as she manipulated the controller in her hands-I believe the chance to sexually torment a servant of the Chief God, the enemy of all mamono kind, was too delicious an opportunity for her to pass up. The throne whirred to life, most of the various tentacles ejecting ticklish tools of different varieties. A feather, a buzzer, a fuzzy hand, a hairbrush, a spinning buffer, a makeup brush, a toe-flosser, a nozzle for releasing a gas-probably an aphrodisiac-the weird light-beam shooter that makes people vibrate, and a device that looked like a pair of tiny, rotating brushes with a slight gap between them. I didn't know what those last two were for yet, but I was going to admire Tinkler for one of them before too long.

The angel said nothing, but here at last, there was a visible physical reaction. Up until now, she'd simply hung there, dead-eyed to the point where one had to wonder if she was even alive. But once the devices came out, those eyes widened and she started slowly shaking her head. She knew the drill by now. She had to have some idea of how ticklish she was at this point and how little we cared about her right to privacy.

I held up a hand for Tinkler to stop, suddenly possessed by a desire to hear the angel's thoughts on the matter. "Do you have anything to say before we begin?"

The unfortunate girl turned her frightened gaze onto me, but perhaps she could see that nothing she might say would stop what was coming. Her eyes darkened again, then closed as she breathed out a sigh. "I have nothing to say to traitors and monsters. Do as you will."

"Still haven't realized you're already a monster yourself…" I mumbled with a hand on my chin. Then I chuckled and motioned for Tinkler to proceed.

* * *

_Memories from before are a bit hazy, but I remember the first day I was tickled pretty well. The machine-I would quickly learn to fear that machine. That cat-eared bitch is the second-most diabolical tickler in the world after-Oh, sorry, not supposed to talk about her yet. The point is, she set those tools on me slowly, one by one, just to make sure I suffered as much as possible for their lewd amusement._

_She started at the top with the buzzy, vibrating thingy and the feather. The thingy went into my left armpit, and the feather into the right. That alone was hellish. Both tools were small, but I was every bit as ticklish as I feared and more. Even a light tapping of the feather alone would've had me laughing so hard I couldn't speak. Both together? There's only one reason I could even breath: the fact that I was an angel. My kind have physical endurance far beyond most beings, even most mamono races. Plus, we don't really need to breathe in the first place; it's optional for us. Here, that was a curse of the highest order. I'd never felt so much need for air before. I'd never felt any need for air before, actually. But now my lungs couldn't get enough to keep up with the urge to laugh._

_And that was just the beginning._

* * *

"Yowza, that's terrifying," Spring asked, looking legitimately scared. "Just how ticklish did you make her? Tinkler's not even _trying_ yet!"

I gave a shrug of my shoulders. "I didn't think to count. How many days has it been since I left the Order?"

"24 days," she answered automatically.

"Then I'd say I used my spell on her more than 54 times." It was a simple matter of adding three days between when I caught the angel and when I took command of Kal'lra's tribe, estimating twice per day and then accounting for a few extra times. But when I actually said it aloud, it really did sound like a lot. The maximum number of "Sensitize" I could usually have active at once was 20 (same for Chain Bind, for the record). I actually had to go out of my way to perform and freeze the ritual each night to account for castings that I wanted to remain permanent or semi-permanent rather than deactivate the spell over and over to replenish spent uses.

In other words, even at my most merciless, I had never amplified the effects of the spell on a single individual even half as much as I had on this angel. She had reached a level of ticklishness beyond what I had stored up for a single day's casting. And I could add on up to 20 more castings easily without having to draw out the whole ritual. I had suspected that I probably would do it, but seeing her under Tinkler's administrations now, while the gremlin was still being "kind" to her, I now believed even one more might not be needed.

Speaking of which, Tinkler was probably the only person in the room relishing this as much as I was. Even Grava seemed a bit pale-faced in the face of such a mind-numbing tickling, but Tinkler went to her new victim with the playfulness of a cat toying with a mouse before eating it. The buzzy rod and the feather moved incredibly slowly along the top of the skin, more caressing than actually tickling. They moved in intricate patterns, tracing designs all over the angel's armpits as if she were trying to paint them. All the while, the green-haired loli stared, somehow content and eager at the same time; no pity in her eyes whatsoever. I knew that the gremlin was a dominatrix by nature, but I'd never realized that with the right prey she would turn out to be so incredibly heartless. I made a mental note to self to give her a bit more respect for that.

Ah, and the angel-the angel-now I knew why they said that being intimate with an angel was one of the highest sins. It was because it was also one of the highest temptations. Her physical beauty was obvious, appearing the smoothest, softest, prettiest thing in the world, objectively speaking (though I dare not say that to my other wives). Her little body squirmed and writhed in a way that was not quite lewd yet not quite innocent either, drawing the eye unintentionally to the spot between her legs, though that was probably a side-effect of being monsterized. And most of all her voice-her voice! Words cannot describe it adequately. It was like a chorus of bells, ringing loudly yet gloriously throughout the tent.

"I'm not so sure this is okay…" Kal'lra mumbled nearby while I was entranced.

I grimaced for a moment, but then smiled. "Really? I'm finding it quite stimulating. At this rate, I'm going to need to find some _relief_ multiple times before we're done here."

"I'm sure this is completely okay!" I rolled my eyes at how malleable the opinions of my wives were. The fact that they were inheriting their own tickle fetishes from me helped immensely, but ultimately, the real source of my control over them was the thing I had between my legs that they were so desperate for. Kal'lra, Ava and Spring suddenly all had hungry glints in their eyes, and they turned that hunger on the angel, switching from pitying her to wanting her to be tortured more in the hopes I would get more turned on.

Grava rolled her eyes at this and mumbled, "You're so… disappointing," though I assume this time she was talking to my wives. I didn't disagree, but I kept that to myself.

Instead, I took Grava's words as a cue to clap my hands together loudly. "Right then. Tinkler? I think it is time to remove the kiddy gauntlet. Let her have your worst."

The gremlin licked her lips and started turning a dial on her remote. "Of course…" The remaining tentacles began to move…

* * *

_I don't really remember a whole lot from after that. Mistress Tinkler's throne is one of the most overwhelming things in the world, and I was already ticklish beyond the scope of possibility. If only two of that bitch's tools were working at once, I couldn't have picked out and differentiated the sensations anymore. At that point, it felt like my whole body was a ticklish spot. Oh sure, it got a bit worse or a bit better when she added some more tools or took some away, but I couldn't really tell which ones they were or where._

_For the first time ever, I went into the Zone. In that place, nothing exists but tickling and arousal. I can't think about anything else. I can't beg for it to stop or beg for more, not even silently. It's a state of pure feeling; a dreamlike state where nothing else matters. Think of it as a form of enlightenment. No, that's not an exaggeration. How could it be? That was the first time I heard __**the voice**__ whispering to me._

**_"Feel it, embrace it, enjoy it, fear it, crave it, admit it, succumb to it, demand it, want it, devour it, be filled with it, hunger for it, be enveloped in it, hate it, love it, be overwhelmed by it, be controlled by it…"_**

_...Or something along those lines. Like I said, I don't remember much of this part clearly, but I know I could hear a __**voice**__ in my mind whispering the secrets of lust to me. And no, My Lord wasn't the one doing it, per se…_

* * *

To be completely honest, I started to fear we had accidentally discovered how to legitimately kill someone with tickling. The angel's shrieks fell into silent laughter, and after a moment, her body went limp and motionless. If it weren't for the sporadic jerking of her lungs and the fact that her jaw continued moving, I would've thought she was dead or at least unconscious.

Tinkler had followed my orders exactly, and as a result, there was now a fuzzy hand squeezing the angel's ribs, a hairbrush scrubbing her left foot, a toe-flosser exploring the toes of her right foot, a spinning buffer in her little butt, a makeup brush exploring her tummy and wiggling in her navel and, most evil of all, that pair of tiny rotating brushes placed on either side of her clit, spinning against it and around it-a stimulation so extreme that if not for my magic preventing anyone from cumming due to tickling alone, she undoubtedly would be orgasming non-stop already by the looks of her. And the result of all this…

...was a very unhappy gremlin. "Boo, now she's too quiet. ...Corman, undo some of the spells; this is boring." Her cheek rested on her hand, and her wicked grin had given way to a pouty face. This in stark contrast to the rest of the ladies who, despite their enthusiasm a moment ago were now notably giving her a wide berth. Grava especially, despite her considerable effort to maintain a blank face was suspiciously far away from us.

I chuckled disarmingly and petted the green-haired girl next to me, scratching behind her ears and making her yelp, blush and purr. "I know, I understand, I feel the same way. But that can wait until later. For now, this is how it must be. Don't worry, I have a few ideas for how to spice up this little venture. And let me add for the record, you have done a superb job, Tinkler."

The gremlin's blush brightened and she stuttered, "F-f-flattery will get you n-n-nowhere with me. A-a-and for the record, I d-d-don't appreciate having my ears touched like that." But despite her words, she didn't pull away. The opposite, in fact; she leaned into the petting. In the end, even the most dominant beastgirl still loves being pet, I supposed.

Speaking of which. "No fair! Me too, me too!" Spring and Kal'lra practically pushed each other out of the way trying to shove their squirrel and pig ears under my free hand, while Ava tapped her wings to her distinctly human ears looking quite jealous. I chuckled again, and gave them each some attention, efficiently keeping them all calm and content despite the angel suffering not 10 feet away from us.

Everyone except the Werewolf cub, who of course had no interest in letting me pet her nor in enjoying this tickling stuff. In fact, she was starting to verbally growl at me. "What. Is. The point. Of this?" she asked, in a tone demanding immediate explanation.

Each of the other four unbound monster girls in the room went silent and stared between us, curious to see if I would cave to the cub's frustrated intimidation. After all, none of them understood what was happening here either. Still I shook my head, raised a hand and said, "Patience. I'm attempting to… Yes, let's say I'm trying to cause a rare event to happen artificially. I don't know how long it will take, but I have more than a few ideas to test out, and if it works… you will be impressed."

Grava didn't look convinced, but I ignored her and turned back to Tinkler next. "Speaking of which, I think it's time to tone things down a bit, so she can hear us. Listen up; here's what I want you to do…"

* * *

_I slowly recovered awareness when the tickling almost stopped. All the tools pulled back except for one, the one that held threads between my toes, and even that one stopped moving. The ex-Hero was holding my foot still to prevent me from tickling myself until I recovered from the sensation. Even then, just having that thing in place made it insanely hard not to struggle. Even the tiniest motion was extreme, and I couldn't completely stop giggling._

_"Please, ehehehe, please mahahake it stohohohop! Whahahat do you wahahahahant?!" One round was enough. I didn't want to experience a second. Although I didn't really know what I would do if he asked for something; I was bound by duty to do as my God willed… or so I thought, though my understanding of the Chief God's will was already warped._

_The man in front of me shook his head somberly and looked deep into my eyes as if staring straight into my soul. "A better question is, 'What do _you_ want?' Here, right now, what do you feel like doing?"_

_It seemed a strange question to me back then. The answer was so obvious. "I wannnnnt to-ehehehehe-do what myhihihihi Master wahahahahants! The will ohohohof the Chhhhhief Deityhehehehe is my w-w-w-willllll!"_

_"No, that is a lie." He denied it immediately, cruelly, taking a feather in his hand and sliding it up my pussy, making me laugh and moan and struggle so much his foot let go of me. "You want more than that, don't you? You won't leave here until you accept that." I barely heard those words, and I definitely didn't understand them. And My Lord didn't give me time to, nodding over to Mistress Tinkler to begin torturing me harder again, making my world hazy once more…_

* * *

Tinkler was more than happy to increase the intensity then, but looked over at me with a bemused expression. "'What do _you_ want' is a better question? Odd choice of words for you. Why would the fact that she's horny be more-"

"OH, I GET IT!" Suddenly Spring the Ratatoskr, an information broker and possessor of much knowledge, useful and useless alike, gripped her stomach and burst out laughing. "So _that's_ it! Genius! Keeheeheeheehee!"

"You figured it out?" Ava asked, drawing closer eagerly. It was sometimes difficult to remember given how nervous she usually looked, but harpies were also generally rather curious creatures, and Ava was no exception. After all, it was her curiosity about me-and very little else, I might add-that caused her to join this harem in the first place.

And fearful that Spring's lips might prove loose in light of someone eager for gossip, I wedged a hand between them. "No, no, don't spoil it. I want it to remain a surprise until the last possible moment."

"I know, I know, I won't tell," the squirrel girl replied, though there was a cheeky, winking grin on her face that made me think she might choose to break that promise. And the fact that she continued speaking after that only made me less certain she'd keep it rather than reassured me that she'd said all she would say on the topic. "But let me just add that this is an _awesome_ idea; like really, I can't believe no one's ever tried it before."

"Oh yes, _that,_" another voice said from behind me as I was about to tell Spring to just stop speaking. "Of course, it's obvious when you think about it. But of course, I wouldn't expect simple-minded sorts like you three to understand." I turned an annoyed look on the gremlin, who was twirling her hair haughtily and pointing to Kal'lra, Ava and Grava. It was true that she was one of my more intelligent wives, but I rather doubted her knowledge actually rivaled Spring's in this case; either she just wanted to _sound_ smarter than the others, or she was trying to trick me/Spring into blurting out the secret. The manner in which she spoke only further confirmed this to me. "It's not your fault really; I _am_ an ace inventor. I'm even the one controlling this thing, and I've been promised two hours of sexy time for my work here today." Oh yeah, she was merely blowing hot air, so to speak.

Come to think of it, now might very well be the perfect time to enact the next phase of my little scheme today. "Two hours you say? Yes, I do seem to recall that."

I rose up to full height, towering over the loli slightly over half my size. She picked up on the fact that something about my behavior seemed suspicious, and started to shrink away a bit, but nonetheless declared with as much confidence as she could muster, "Th-th-that's right! Two hours in the throne! No take-backs; that would make you a liar."

But I held up a finger and waved it back and forth while bending over and plucking the remote out of her hand amidst her protests. "Actually… the deal was two hours of sex. Who would be where was never discussed."

"Oh…" Tinkler's face paled, an awkward smile slowly coming to her lips as she realized she'd been had, not to mention that all her combat skill, such as it was, was embodied in her throne which was presently occupied. "Oh, fuck…" She was wide open and defenseless. And if she had any wild notions of diving for the controls on the throne's armrest, those went out the window when she looked left and right to discover that the rest of my wives, smelling semen on the horizon, had moved to surround her with sparkling eyes, Kal'lra instinctively taking the most strategic position between Tinkler and her goal while the other two guarded the rear and opposite side.

A slow chuckle slipped from Tinkler's mouth. "N-n-now, now. Can't we talk about this like… Aw, who am I kidding? I'm fucked." Her defensive posture gave way to slump-shouldered resignation. The other girls took that as a cue to strip off her clothes, lift her up by the arms and pin her down on my desk, where I quickly chained her down. "You know I'm going to get you all back for this, right? Ten-fold too; just wait and-BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

I cut off her objections by spidering my fingers over the gremlin's soles. "I'm sure you will; I'll need to make more deals with you in the future, after all. But for now, you're the 'lee, and it's time for your two hours to start."

I moved away and motioned for Ava to take my place there. "No, no! Not you! Not my feeeeeHEEHEEHEET! WAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Tinkler's brief moments of protest were cut off by the harpy, who seemed rather eager to tickle the un-tickleable girl. And when I motioned for Spring to do the same with her massive tail on Tinkler's upperbody, the Ratatoskr as as well jumped to her job with immense eagerness, and to top it off, I had Kal'lra grab a couple of paintbrushes and start working over the gremlin's pussy in preparation for me.

Like Spring, who many considered my top wife, Tinkler had many "enemies" due to her highly dominant and untamable personality, acting as if she owned the place despite the fact that I was clearly in command, combined with the fact that her throne was a force to be reckoned with, which made her position in the hierarchy difficult to define. Although the Werewolves would probably be my strongest minions in terms of speed, and the orcs in raw physical strength, the gremlin had the strongest defenses and could deal with multiple opponents at once with ease, rendering her second to me in terms of overall power. As such, aside from myself and Spring, no one had yet managed to make her squeal, and even the two of us had really only done it that one time. So everyone was eager to take her down a few pegs.

Everyone except, of course, Grava whom I took advantage of the distraction to speak to on the far side of the tent. "What's_ really_ bothering you?" I kept my voice low so the others wouldn't hear over the sounds of the two helplessly guffawing lolis.

She growled in response. "I don't care about this tickling stuff. ...I know it matters. I saw you use it to control my daughters and the other bird. But I don't _care._" She was speaking much more clearly than normal. No doubt because she'd had ample time to formulate her opinion and brood on it by now.

Still, I wasn't convinced. "For someone who doesn't care at all, you did an excellent job on Melody. No, I don't think that's all it is. I believe you wish for me to just kill the angel and be done with it. After all, she was a servant of the Chief God-a supporter of the Order." I paused her to look at the bloodwolf cub. She glared at me for a minute then turned her attention back to the angel.

The angel was a mess, thrusting her hips forward and back, subconsciously trying and failing to fuck the brushes teasing her lower region. Seeing this, Grava responded with another growl. "I don't like this. She shouldn't be happy. I don't want that."

"I agree," I whispered quietly, trying to keep my voice as low as I possibly could. "I want her to suffer, not enjoy herself. But I also need her to cooperate. So I'm doing the next best thing: I'm going to make her suffer from wont of insufficient enjoyment. I'm balancing it so she never enjoys it too much."

The werebeast's ears twitched and she shook her head. "That's not enough."

She didn't say anything more. She didn't need to; I completely understood her. Instead I responded, "No it's not. But it will be, some day. For now, this is what's best, you'll see. There's a golden opportunity here, and I intend to seize it. So relax and enjoy the lust for a bit."

I considered patting her on the back, but that would have been unwise; we were not that friendly. So instead, I simply stood up and waved over to Kal'lra. "Alright, it is my turn on that spot." The voluptuous girl groaned, but started to move away. As we passed by each other, I tapped her on the shoulder and whispered, "Keep an eye on Grava; make sure she doesn't do anything to the angel." In all fairness, this all would have gone a lot smoother if the bloodwolf had never been invited. Bringing her in because I wanted to show off my moment of triumph was a miscalculation rooted in pride. I enjoyed having someone I could be myself around, so I wasn't particularly eager to send her away. That was a new weakness on my part that would have to be dealt with, I reflected.

But for now, there was a gremlin to attend to. Spring and Ava paused their ministrations for a moment as I pulled off my clothes and got up on the desk. They'd only seen me fully nude twice before, once when they pulled me out of Tinkler's throne and once when we had the orgy with Melody, and I could feel all their eyes on me. Even Tinkler, who initially tried to glare at me through her panting and gasping, couldn't help eyeing me up and down. Before long, her expression returned to its usual mischievousness, and rather than complain about being fooled into the wrong deal, she instead declared, "Just you wait, big boy, I _will_ pay you back for this. One of these days, you'll be begging to be my test subject for life!"

"Is that so?" I could feel the lightening shooting between our eyes again, even though I knew that was just my imagination. "Then let me counter that promise: in time, you will call me your master, just like everyone else here. In fact, let's start right now." I lifted my right arm, gestured it toward her feet, and uttered those dreaded words without breaking eye contact. "SENSITIZE!"

I had the satisfaction of watching the gremlin's confident expression break down and twist in several conflicting directions. Her grin fell into a grimace; she closed her eyes, then opened them, then rolled them, then let out a sigh. "Why the feet? Why did you do that there? I like my feet."

I was very aware of that. Of course I was; between the fact that she created invisible boots _just_ to show them off and the fact that (among other things) she gave me a few footjobs when she had me in her throne and that she did…_ stuff_ with my feet, I knew very well that Tinkler had a foot fetish. "All the more reason to make them more ticklish. You should learn absolutely everything about feet, including how it feels when they're tickled." It wasn't a lie, per se, just my honest, if somewhat sarcastic, opinion.

"I've learned enough about that. I don't need to knoOOOHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOHOHOHOHOHOHOP IHIHIHIHIHIHIHIT!" At my signal, Ava started feathering the trapped feet again, pushing the scientist into fits and convulsions.

I moved over her, propping myself up on all fours so that my penis was hanging over Tinkler's face where she couldn't help but see it, even as she tossed her head around. I teased her by waving my hips around, causing it to flip and flop around in front of her like a wagging tail. "Do you want it? Do you want it? Tell me who Tinkler's master is. Tell me who-" I paused to lightly smack away Spring's hand as she subconsciously reached for it and tut-tutted to her before finishing my sentence. "-who Tinkler's master is."

The gremlin was a stubborn girl indeed. "NO! AHAHAHA FUCK! IHAHAHAHA WON'T DO IT! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NO MORE FEET! NO MORE FFFFAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" But when I signaled Spring to start rubbing her massive tail over her body again, this time from her tiny nipples down to her vagina, she changed her tune. "AAAHHHAHAHAHAHA! OKAY OKAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! M-M-MASTAHAHAHAHAH, MASTER PLEASE! I NEE-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NEED YOUR D-AHAHAHAHAHAHA DICK, PLEASE!"

"Hm, but now, I'm not sure I want to. This feels very pleasing as is." I could say that with full honesty because I had moved my groin to rest on top of Spring's massive tail, allowing her to stimulate it and tickle Tinkler at the same time, something the squirrel girl seemed to love, panting and squealing the way she did. She honestly looked more in heat than I'd ever seen short of when we were actually having sex.

The gremlin, by contrast, was _furious_ with that outcome. "FUUUUCK AHAHAHAHAHAHA! NO FAIR! BWAHAHAHAHAHA! GIVE IT TO ME, DAMMITAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She bounced back and forth between begging and demanding until she remembered that demanding wasn't going to get her what she wanted. By the time I acquiesced and went down on her, she was blubbering incomprehensibly. At that point, I was already about to burst, and Tinkler seemed the same. I motioned for Spring and Ava to slow down and go easier on her while I pushed inside and began pumping. The girl's eyes rolled back and her laughter and moans became more and more intertwined, less desperate, more greedy, more eager. We both came quickly enough, and when the tickling paused, the gremlin had a puffy, red-faced smile on her face.

I let her enjoy the sensation for a bit, and then pulled off of her, earning some surprise. Three voices raised an equivalent of, "You're not going to keep going?" to which I responded, "Oh I will, but not yet. I will take a break, while you all continue with her for a bit."

* * *

I walked away after that to check on Kal'lra and Grava as well as tease the angel who'd gone silent again. Because of that, I didn't hear what happened behind me. The following conversation is my best understanding of what transpired between Tinkler, Spring and Ava as I learned it after the fact.

Spring and Ava quickly started tickling again over Tinkler's objections to wait. But in the midst of the tickling, they started to notice Tinkler trying to say something-something that didn't sound like begging. "IHIHIHIHIHI HAVE SOHOHOHOHOHOHOMETHING TO TEHEHEHEHEHEHELL YOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOU! BWAHAHAHAHAHA WAHAHAHAHAHAIT, WAIT, IHIHIHIHIHIT'S ABOUT COHOHOHOHOHOHOHORMAN!"

Spring stopped moving her tail, just resting it on Tinkler's body, and motioned for Ava to slow down. "What's that? You know something about my darling? Spill it or I'll tickle, tickle, tickle you even more." The Ratatoskr interrogated the gremlin with playful words, but her intensity was much greater than normal. Being from a race that's greedy for gossip, she might have kept Tinkler there all day, even without my approval, if she could get this info the gremlin teased her with.

But info was not exactly what the green-haired girl was offering. Taking a couple deep breaths amidst her giggling, Tinkler asked Spring, "H-h-how would hehehe you like tohoho tickle hihihi_him?_"

Spring blinked for a moment and then shook her head. "I've already tried that. Corman's not ticklish." She started tickling Tinkler again, but not much. Just enough to up the intensity a bit. "If you're making this up-"

"I'M NOT! I'M NOHOHOHOHOT! BWAHAHAHAHAHA! REMOTE! GET ME MY REMOHOHOHOHOHOTE!"

"Wait, you mean…?" Spring stopped momentarily and glanced over to the ground nearby where I had put down the remote control for Tinkler's throne with my clothes. It could easily be a bluff, but Spring caught on to what Tinkler was hinting at before the harpy, whose head tilted in confusion. Bending over to whisper in the gremlin's ear, Spring said, "Did you… add a Sensitize function to the throne?"

"YES! YEHEHEHEHEHES!" the gremlin confirmed, thrashing about and trying to pull her soles and toes away from Ava's wings. "I DID!"

* * *

Ava and Spring did not stop tickling Tinkler, but Spring did leave her post, trusting her tail to torment the gremlin's belly and chest while speaking conspiratorially with the harpy. Neither of them were particularly keen on tickling others in general, exactly, but the idea of being able to tickle me back-to make me show some weakness-appealed to both the Ratatoskr with a somewhat mischievous streak of her own and the harpy who feared me. And I? I did not notice any of this as I stood before the angel nor did Kal'lra keeping an eye on Grava. Grava might have, but if she did, she didn't care to say anything. And thus, I was standing right in front of the angel and the throne she was bound to when Spring snatched up the remote.

_**"Relish it.**__ You want more, don't you? __**Embrace it.**__ It's okay to accept that. __**Consume it.**__ You should accept it. __**Be consumed **_**by****_ it."_**

_There were two voices in my head this time. One of them was that unidentified __**voice**__ from the first time I went into the Zone. The other was his voice, My Lord Corman's. I could hear him, whispering directly into my ear, mingling with the other __**voice**__ in my head. I didn't understand what they were saying though. In the Zone, it was impossible to think. I could feel, but that was all. But still, I could feel, and what I felt emotionally was this sense of wavering, standing on a precipice, being stretched to the breaking point. I didn't understand what the voices were saying, but I felt both the powerful urge to submit to them and the fear of what would happen if I did._

_**"Just let go.**__ Come on, tell me what you really want. __**What do you want?**__ Do you want it to stop? __**You don't want it to stop.**__ Do you want more? __**You do want more.**__ What does your bo-"_

_Suddenly, one of the voices cut off. And, though you might think this weird or creepy, I was upset that it left. It was… lonelier in the Zone without the voices. No distractions from the tickling. Just tickling in isolation. It was far more hellish when I didn't have the voices to give me some comfort._

_But then the second _

_**one**__-the __**one**__ I didn't recognize spoke again. "Look. I will lend you some of my willpower. Use it to look at what's happening in front of you." And suddenly, I was able to think again. It wasn't that the tickling had gone down at all, but somehow… I could identify it. I could register which of the demonic tickle tools was causing which sensations. I could tell the difference once again between the bristles in my armpits and those on my left foot, the make-up brush in my navel and the rotating brushes tormenting my clit. In some ways that just made it even worse because it took me out of the zone and forced me to think about it again. But __**the voice**__ hadn't called me back to torture me with the sensations. No, that __**Entity**__ wanted more from me. __**She**__ wanted me to see what was happening to them…_

* * *

Some of you may wonder how anyone ever gets the drop on me considering that there are times I've displayed the ability to detect the presences of others nearby, such as when Grava crept into my tent quiet as a mouse to assassinate me or how I knew our caravan was being followed by that wretched werecat despite her efforts to stay out of sight. Allow me to explain; it's really quite simple. I was distracted.

In stories, oftentimes heroes and villains are never taken off-guard. They are constantly aware of everything happening around them at all times, to the point where they can sense an attack coming from miles away while in the midst of a relaxing conversation. But in my experience, reality is not that convenient. Sensory ability-awareness of the surroundings-is exhausting and needs to be maintained consciously. One has to be on alert to pull off such ridiculous feats as that. And I was… well, it would be wrong to say I wasn't on alert at all, but any caution I felt was directed toward Grava. I did not direct the slightest bit of attention toward Spring, Ava and Tinkler behind me to the right nor to the angel directly in front of me. Why bother? Surely there was no danger in either of those directions, or so I assumed.

I was... mistaken… to think that way.

My first hint that something was off came from the tentacle with the light that makes a person vibrate… or rather, that's what it did the first time Tinkler used it on me. At this point, it was the only one of the ten tentacles not already in use (aside from the aphrodisiac-spraying one, which we'd agreed beforehand would be our ace in the hole). I had wondered briefly why she brought that particular tool out if she wasn't going to use it, but shrugged it off as something she was planning to use later. That was only half right. While I was talking to the angel and tickling her nipples with my fingers-one of the few spots not already being tortured-that tentacle finally moved… and pointed directly at me.

I suppose I should have dodged it then, but I assumed it was merely moving to get into position to be used on the angel. Instead, the beam of light poured out of it once again, only this time, it was yellow rather than green. And dodging light after seeing it is… impossible. I blinked, and stopped what I was doing, too surprised to recover quickly enough… to notice Spring pounce on me from behind. That's how it is sometimes. Even the greatest of warriors can be caught flat-footed. Anyone who says otherwise is a fool.

Still, no part of the surprise attack was remotely as surprising as when Spring, clinging to my shoulders and legs wrapped around my torso from behind, lifted up my shirt with her tail. "What?! WhahahahaHAHAT?!" It was a sensation I recognized from childhood but hadn't felt in years. It caused me to instinctually start flailing and trying to get Spring off my back. Easier said than done because although I could manage it pretty easily if I was willing to be rough with her, I wasn't.

Plus, the surprise attack wasn't limited to just Spring. Right as I peeled her hands off my shoulders and caused her to start to fall backwards onto her own tail, my legs were wrapped up in feathery wings that just so happened to reach high enough to brush against the underside of my balls and penis. Whether that was intentional or instinct, I don't know, but I do know in hindsight that it was no coincidence that it tickled even worse than Spring's tail. "WAHAHAHAHA! WHAT?! AHAHAHAHA!" With my legs wrapped up and my balance thrown off, my efforts to escape only caused me to collapse to the ground myself where Spring was waiting to wrap me up in her tail.

Another beam of the yellow light struck me, and I could hear Tinkler, still bound to the desk, cackling madly as my sensitivity shot up again, _especially_ on my balls and penis. "HAHA! Revenge is mine!" she was calling out cheerfully.

And Spring and Ava were equally ecstatic. Lying under me with her tail cushioning my weight, I could hear the Ratatoskr whispering into my ear from behind. "Tickle, tickle! It's your turn now! Not fair if only we get tickled! Coochie, coochie coo!"

As for myself… I was, of course, furious but also… well, frightened. I realize my existence is a bit of a hypocritical one. I seek to dominate regardless of whether or not the one being dominated has any desire to be, yet I fear being dominated in turn. That traumatic feeling mingled with the artificially amplified rage, boiling up at being humiliated by wives I thought I had thoroughly tamed and myself for being surprised… and being horny. And that third part was the most confusing because while my natural instinct wanted escape and my self-implanted one wanted to retaliate, the influence of the mamono energies wafting through the room and pouring into me-particularly after having just had sex with Tinkler-also filled me with the urge to submit and enjoy the sensation, particularly the one filling my suddenly hyper-ticklish privates.

To be completely honest, I don't know what I would have ultimately done-be it break down, discover a new fetish, or accidentally kill someone-had there not still been one loyal wife in the room. "W-w-w-w-wha' da yall think ya doin'?!" Kal'lra, abandoning both her post next to Grava and her efforts to hide her accent, pounced on Ava and yanked her off, wiggling her fingers in the harpy's underarms to dislodge her grip on my legs. "Y-y-ya can' just t-t-tickle da chief! Dat's… dat's sacrilodge or some'in'!" Grava jumped into action next while Kal'lra was busy, aiming directly for me, but I saw her coming and reacted instantly, wrapping her up in an excessively thorough Chain Bind with only her head and footpaws sticking out. Because, well, even in this state-no, _especially_ in this state-my mind just knew that she was aiming to kill, not tickle.

Oddly enough, though, this attempted assasination did absolutely nothing to alter the atmosphere inside the tent at all. The only side effect was that everyone, myself included, suddenly remembered I could fight back, and when I turned my hand toward Spring, she was already rushing to let go and rush away, releasing me from her tail in a manner that had her rolling on the floor. She then jumped to try and pin down my arm while my sight was still spinning, but I managed to avoid that and got into a grapple with her, which pushed her flat onto her back.

There was a brief pause as I stared down at her pinned form. We were both panting, and I… well, I think I was expecting to see fear in her eyes-fear that I would kill her or at least hurt her. But what I saw instead was pure, blindly bright joy and playfulness. It confused me somehow, and that's when I noticed two laughing voices in the background. Tilting my head slightly to look around, I saw that the tables had turned on Kal'lra; she was still tickling harpy with one hand, but now Ava had her pinned and was using her wings to devastating effect under the orc's boobs. Neither one seemed in any way upset. And Tinkler, despite still being tied up, was laughing uproariously while Grava just had this… abnormally cute grumpy face as she lay chained up. And that's when some rational part of my brain had the following conversation:

_Oh… I get it. This is a tickle fight._

_Well, duh, that's obvious, isn't it?_

_Yes, but… I feel like that means something. Like… like… it's okay?_

_That's the mamono mana talking._

_Probably. But if it is, it's probably not just talking to me. It's probably talking to her to._

My eyes then flitted over to the angel, still bound and laughing silently in Tinkler's throne, and apparently staring at us all quite intensely in spite of that. How that was possible, I didn't consider at the time, but if we had a massive, chaotic tickling orgy right in front of her… _Yes… I can use this. I _should _use this._ And as quickly as flipping a switch, I started to channel my emotions into this new situation. Fear? An instinct to avoid getting tickled. Rage? A motive to tickle back. And lust? A means of enjoying this scenario regardless of who was on top at any given moment.

**_You are a strange one. Your mind is constantly calculating and manipulating, even while experiencing all kinds of extreme cravings that would overwhelm any other mortal. Most unnatural._** For a brief instant, I felt like I heard a voice in the back of my head, but whether because I blotted it out of my awareness to focus on the task at hand or because it had no more than a passing interest in me, it faded quickly, and I brushed it off as my worked up mind playing a prank on me.

I focused instead on Spring, crouched on all fours with her massive tail waving about, aggressively, defensively and playfully. Considering that she must have known she was no match for me in a fair fight and that giving me time to recover was a terrible idea, I could only conclude the _real_ intent behind her playful and mischievous grin was, ultimately, to _lose_ and be "raped." Of course it was. Spring was, at the end of the day, still utterly devoted and subservient to me even if a bit sneaky and considerably cunning. That being the case, I returned her playful grin was a sadistic one and readied myself. "I hope you're prepared to be 'punished' for that…"

* * *

_What I saw was a primal, carnal chaos. My torturers turned on one another and unleashed all their lust, their sadism and masochism, their instincts of predator and prey. When the first two, the Ratatoskr and the harpy, attacked their master and started tickling him, my eyes were glued to his big, throbbing erection. When the harpy was peeled off by the orc, I found my gaze drawn to how she countered and lovingly tickled the orcs breasts. The man, soon to be my master and eventually My Lord Corman, pulled a role-reversal on the Ratatoskr-or, well, I guess I should say that he reversed the roles back to normal-and stuck her on the table next to the gremlin. Actually, the gremlin made things a lot more complicated by using the throne-with me still on it, which made watching the "battle" between her, Spring and Corman a dizzying chore-both to torture me and try to catch and tickle My Lord at the same time. Didn't work, though; once Corman had seized the remote from her, both she and the squirrel-girl were chained down together, and he took great pleasure in "punishing" them for a long, long time._

_I watched all this wi-Hm? Kal'lra and Ava? Oh, they continued their own little tickle fight off to the side until Ava was worn out and Kal'lra got the upper hand again. Because, you know, orcs just have more endurance. Once the harpy was pinned down, my future master ordered the orc to just "punish" her until he was done with the two he was working on._

_Now, I watched all-Oh for the love of-! Grava didn't do anything, okay? She stayed wrapped up like a caterpillar until Corman chose to let her up. That's it. _

_You done asking questions? Hm? You want more detail? Heh, well honestly I'd love to go on-and-on about it all, but I don't have enough time for that, and... I don't think any of us remember it clearly enough to remember much. It was all a blur of fingers and feathers and other tickle tools. I remember… that Spring was tied essentially lying face-down on top of Tinkler with her tail chained straight up in the air to the top of the tent and that Corman fucked both their pussies multiple times, usually tickling whichever one he wasn't fucking. I think he might even have used a clone potion at one point to grow an extra dick and fuck them both simultaneously and also to make a couple copies of himself to tickle their feet (or paws in Spring's case) and upperbodies, but don't quote me on that; my eyes might have just been playing tricks on me by that point. I also remember that Kal'lra and Ava went back and forth on each other for quite a while until Kal'lra finally won out, and that they both seemed more interested in turning each other on in ways other than just tickling, their interaction involving a lot more kissing and massaging. Come to think of it… with Spring tied on top of Tinkler the way she was, I _think_ those two wound up kissing each other a lot too, though less frequently because they couldn't pause the tickling to do it. And there might-_might_-have been a point when Grava's footpaws sticking out of her little cocoon were also tickled, but everyone else tells me her first time came later, after the First Separation, so I'm almost certain my eyes were fucking with me by that point._

_A-ny-way! What I was trying to say is that while I was watching all of this happen, __**the voice**__ in my head kept speaking to me, taunting me, tempting me. __**"Look. Gaze upon them. This savagery is the purest form of love. This trust, the purest form of happiness. Do you not wish it for yourself? It can be yours. Simply admit your desire for it, and it shall be yours."**__ It was at that point I had enough self-awareness to understand that this __**Entity**__ really did exist and really was speaking to me. I couldn't have such complex thoughts unless I really was borrowing __**her**__ willpower, not with every nerve in my body tingling, crying out for less and for more simultaneously, with my pussy throbbing, my nipples aching, and everything from my armpits to my toes dancing and screaming and laughing. The pandemonium I was experiencing wasn't exclusively-or even primarily-external; it was internal. Knowing that… Knowing who this __**Being**__ must be, I became terrified and tried to ignore __**her**__. I was a servant of the Chief Deity; I would not be corrupted by __**her**__._

**_"I'm not corrupting you. You've already been corrupted. You know this. You couldn't hear me if you weren't outside the Chief Floozy's protection."_**

_No, I wouldn't listen, I wouldn't accept it, I wouldn't acknowledge it. I was a servant of the Chief Deity, possessor of a divine duty to bring joy to the faithful. There was nothing impure about that. These physical reactions meant nothing._

**_"You poor child. You can lie to me. You can lie to yourself. But you can't lie to your cravings."_**

_No. I didn't… I couldn't… I… I…_

* * *

_Suddenly, the tickling stopped again. The sounds of the world around me became audible again and when I looked over at my torturers, I saw that they had apparently all come to a truce or something and were focusing on me again, though with much less clothing than they had on in the beginning. And the first thing I heard any of them say hit me hard. "Hehe, she's so _wet!_"_

After downing a fresh dose of Purity and Rage to get both my emotions and the situation back on track, I released Spring, Tinkler and Grava from their chains and ordered Kal'lra and Ava to disentangle themselves. Two hours of having sex right in front of her while she was hopelessly tickled and edged, and _still_ the angel hadn't…

Well, I wasn't going to give up so easily, but this more hands-off approach just didn't appear to be working. So I gathered up myself and my thoroughly stripped and disheveled wives (and Grava), reorganized our line and commanded Tinkler to pause the machine.

After all the tools pulled back, Spring was the first speak up, giggling and pointing between the angel's legs. "Hehe, she's so _wet!_" And indeed she was. There was a visible trail of precum leaking from the angel's thoroughly overstimulated vagina down her legs. My wives seemed to think it was the most hilarious thing: a "noble creature of the Chief God" trussed up and desperate for an orgasm.

We must have hit a nerve because the angel's eyebrows twisted into a glare and she decided to try resisting for the first time in weeks. "You… Don't you get it?! This man… is a killer! He's killed thousands… of your kind! And… he also… killed a man in this tent… not too long ago!" She pushed the words out through panting and clenched teeth, whether in a blind rage or consciously trying to turn my wives against me, I'm not really sure.

A hush came over the room, and I glanced over to Grava. Given how displeased she'd been all day, I was a bit concerned she wouldn't take the cue, but… "Liar, that was me." She even seemed to swell up with pride a bit at the declaration.

My other wives were unnerved by the bloodwolf cub's simple yet powerful rejection, but Kal'lra backed up the statement nonetheless. "Y-yeah! Ya ain't gun… confuse… us! Stupid angel!" And the others followed her example one after another, though without stumbling over their words the way she did.

The angel protested further, desperately and furiously, her face displaying more intense anger than I'd ever seen on it. "It's the truth! I heard it all! It was him! Why can't you stupid animals seeeeeeHEEHEEHEEHEE!?"

But Tinkler cut her off just by having her throne's fuzzy hand poke her in the side a few times. "Shut up, bitch. No one here gives a fuck." I glanced down at her, surprised by the intensity in the short inventor's voice, and saw that she too was glaring, her canines exposed and the hairs on her ears standing up. I'd never seen one of my wives this angry before. Even when I kidnapped and forced some of them to marry me, they were never angry about it. But mamono have powerful protective instincts geared toward their husband; if there was ever a way to make a normal mamono legitimately furious, it would be to attack her husband, physically or verbally.

So I decided to take a step back, and gesture to the angel. "It would seem she just doesn't get it yet. Ladies, have at her. I'm sure if you work together, you can up the intensity even further."

Whatever righteous and probably justified anger the angel felt quickly dissipated as the ticked off mamono crowded in on her. "No. No! NOOOO!"

* * *

_You're probably getting sick of hearing me say, "It all blended together, and I don't remember it very well," but… what happened next all blended together, and I don't remember it very well. _

_Now hear me out. In my defense, can you imagine having eight tooled-tentacles, six hands, two wings, two tails, and possibly a pair of feet all trying to tickle you all at once? Yeah, no, you wouldn't be able to keep track of it all either. Nothing was constant; everyone was trying to get whatever they could tickle with into whatever gaps they could find, and there wasn't enough of me to go around. It was a whirlwind of different tickling sensations, an even greater chaos than anything I'd experience so far. On top of it all, the gastacle-the tentacle with the aphrodisiac in it-finally turned on and started spraying me all over, throwing my senses even further out of wack. And as if to mock me even further…_

**_"Poor thing. They're tickling you so hard you can't even laugh. Why don't we fix that?"_**

_And the next instant, I was laughing again. And it was… Oh fuck, how do I explain this…? Well, I mean, it's like, I wasn't being for- No that's not right. I was being forced to laugh, duh, but at the same time… I was kinda doing it to myself? I was using magic internally to grow extra pairs of lungs and channel air into one pair while the others were laughing. I know, that-HHHF, fuck!-that sounds complicated. Just, just, look, the important thing is that __**she**__ had put the knowledge of how to do it in my head, and I just… did it. And the result…_

_"HA_HA_HA_HA_HA_HA_HA_HA_HA_HA_HA_HA_HA_HA_HA_HA_HA_HA_HA_HA_!"_

_Even I could hear that my laughter sounded strange and different. It's like, being forced to laugh from multiple lungs at once results in multiple voices? Or something? Like if you were listening to three people being tickled instead of just one. Or if you were tickling someone and heard a loud echo._

_**"There, isn't that much better? Now you can make everyone happy!"**_

_I wanted to tell __**the voice**__ to shut up and get out of my head, but I couldn't think that thoroughly anymore. In hindsight, I think __**she**__ was taking back some of the extra willpower __**she'd**__ used to help me understand everything that was happening during the previous round._

_Besides, I had more to worry about than just one voice. More like _six.

_"Coochie coo! Tickle, tickle, tickle, silly angel!"_

_"You like that, bitch? Yeah, now you're laughing! That's right, keep it up; laugh for us all day!"_

_"Give up and do what the Chief wants already. You know what it is, don't you? Just do it, stupid angel!"_

_"Hee… heeheehee… you want to cum? Do my feathers in your slit make you want to cum?"_

_"...Fuck you, bitch…"_

_Even the werewolf seemed to be getting in on the act. Maybe she herself was more turned on than she wanted to admit? Whatever, not the point. The point is, they just kept going on and on, telling me that they were tickling me or that they would keep tickling me or that I should give up or that I wanted more. Not just them, the __**voice**__ was doing it too._

**_"How long are you going to hold it? You're only torturing yourself. Let gooooo."_**

_And I… I just… I couldn't resist any longer. My pussy… I don't know how I'd been able to ignore it this long, but my pussy was on fire! Every single nerve ending was tingling and screaming. It couldn't get away from the overstimulation, and in hindsight, it probably wasn't really trying to. I guess… I guess I'd actually been focusing as much as possible on the tickling everywhere else in order to distract from what was happening down there, but… _**fuck**_ I needed to cum. I needed to cum. I _wanted_ to cum already, damn it!_

Let me fucking cum!

* * *

There was a sudden yelp of surprise from multiple voices, and a dark aura filled the tent. There before our eyes, my wives and I witnessed a rare sight, something that could be described as a second transformation or maybe the _true_ transformation. The angel's skin turned blue, her hair shifted from blonde to silver, her eyes changed from blue to purple even her dress off to the side dissolved and was replaced with what can only be called a bondage outfit. And perhaps most iconic of all, her pure white angel wings became a pristine onix black.

With a triumphant smile, I stepped forward through my gathering of wives and raised up the palm of my right hand. "Behold: a dark angel. A servant of the _Fallen_ God." Yes, here it was, the first of my trump cards. I had been planning this for a long, long time. Even before acquiring the Sensitize and Chain Bind spells, I knew this was something I wanted.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck me already!" she was cried out, interrupting me and tugging on her restraints more violently than when the tickling first started despite not actually being tickled at the moment. "Please, hurry up, I can't wait any longer!"

I stepped forward, and it would be a lie to say that my dick wasn't erect once again. I believe that was the reason Kal'lra's attention was on me rather than the angel. I had said I wouldn't marry the _angel_. Would I now flip it around and say that didn't apply to the _dark_ angel. I could practically hear her asking that question as I touched the dark angel's chin with one hand and guided her eyes to look into mine.

"...What is your name?"

The dark angel gulped a bit, panting heavily with desire. "Anamiel… my name is Anamiel."

"Wrong." I stared deeply into her hungry, greedy eyes and pronounced a declaration of absolute dominance. "That _was_ your name. As of now, you belong to me, and as my property, I decree that you have no name. You are just a bitch in a loli body. A little bitch kid who will either do what she is told and suffer or not do what she is told and suffer more."

Behind me, my wives (and Grava) all went still. The now nameless dark angel didn't seem to grasp the meaning of the change in atmosphere and heedlessly cried out, "Okay, fine, I'm your bitch! I'll do whatever you want, Master, just please have sex with me!" She thrust her hips forward and back as much as possible as if trying to have sex with the air itself.

"...No." It wasn't until I flat-out refused that the dark angel quieted down and listened to what I was saying. "You will not have sex with any man ever. Not today. Not tomorrow. Never. And you will not cum either unless I allow it and certainly not before you can answer this question before me." Then I leaned in and whispered something into the dark angel's ear.

Now it was her turn to stiffen up, her eyes widening as I pulled away and her head slowly shaking. "I… I don't know that. I can't… tell you what I don't know."

"Liar; I know you know," I growled. "And you will tell me. If you ever want to cum, you _will_ tell me." Then I turned my back on her and gazed at the five girls behind me. All of them wore faces of confusion and even fear except for Grava, who seemed finally to find the situation very fascinating and was smiling just a bit. That was when I issued what for some in the room must have sounded like my cruelest order to date. "Continue keeping her in denial. At least three more days even if she talks."

I had made up my mind long ago. This dark angel, my ace in the hole, wasn't going to be one of my wives. She would be one of my trophies.

* * *

I realize I've said this before, but ever since I watched my hometown destroyed by regressives at 8 years old, I hated mamono. They tore apart my family, figuratively. They destroyed my home, literally. They ruined my best friend completely. And they stole my lover away forever.

Even so, for all the anger and bitterness I let seep out from time to time, I don't think my wives had ever truly comprehended how deep my hatred went. How could they? They knew that I lusted after them, and as far as they were concerned, that was the same as being in love with them. Their instincts, so very different from a human's, told them that I was ultimately on their side and that it was only a matter of time before I mellowed out and enjoyed life more freely.

But their opinion finally started to change when they saw my attitude toward Bitch Kid...


End file.
